A Separate Phineas
by Nova-chan
Summary: John Knowles' tale, told in the present timeframe. Recent chapters, the readers get to decide whether Finny lives or dies! See story for more details!
1. 1 Prelude

A Separate Phineas

"AAAAAHH! FINNY! FINNY! TOO FAST! TOO FAST!"

"YOU JUST BROKE SEVENTEEN LAWS AT THAT INTERSECTION!"

"NO! DON'T HIT THE-squirrel."

"COULD YOU TURN THE MUSIC DOWN? MY EARS ARE GONNA EXPLODE!"

"HEY! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO LET ME OFF THREE BLOCKS AGO!"

"FOR GODS' SAKES, SLOW DOWN!"

"I CAN'T GET MY SEATBELT ON! HELP!"

"YOU JUST HIT A MAILBOX!...AND A SHRUB!...AND A TRASH CAN!...AND A LAUNDRY BASKET!"

I clung to the bottom of my seat, fearful for my life. Finny plus the wheel of a motorized vehicle equals loss of sanity and safety.

Brinker and Leper were all but huggling each other out of fear in the backseat, screaming out bouts of terror at Finny's poor driving skills, just as I was.

And, of course, Finny was ignoring us all.

What did he care? He was driving his brand-new red convertible. Finny always had a brand-new something-or-other.

None of us knew exactly where we were going, although we were supposed to be going home from school. I don't think Finny even knew or cared where we were going.

Suddenly, the car screeched to a sudden stop, and all of us, except for Finny, lunged forward. I hit my head on the dashboard.

"Ow. Finny, what are you-" I began. "The skating rink? Why are we here?"

Phineas laughed. "Why else? To skate!"

Once inside, I observed that there were few teenagers there, and that the population was mostly made of small children.

We got our skates and rolled over to the floor.

"Let's go, Gene!" Finny exclaimed, with his ever-present grin. "Would you be my skating partner?"

I looked at him, somewhat uneasy. "Um….Finny? I don't know how to skate."

Finny looked at me skeptically for a moment, and then slapped his grin back on. "Well, now's a perfect time to learn!" he shouted, whacking me on the back and pushing me onto the floor. Suddenly, I was out of control, and was just about to run into a little girl slowing skating in front of me. I barely had time to cry out, when Finny grabbed the back of my shirt, pulling me up and out of the ring.

I stared at him, mesmerized. "You-you saved my life, Finny!"

I must have had an exaggerated expression of gratitude because Finny made a comical look. "You're trippin."

After I had somewhat gotten "the hang" of skating, as in I didn't fall except for every other time I moved, I saw Finny opposite of me on the floor. He was skating like he was a klutz, pretending that he was losing his balance. Every now and then, he would shriek, "I'm falling! I'm falling!" although everyone knew that he was the best and most experienced skater in the entire room. I rolled my eyes, lost my balance, and fell flat on my backside.

I decided it would be a good idea to retire and go to the snack bar. I got a drink and sat down in a booth. As I gazed loathfully at the skate floor, I noticed that Finny had apprenticed one of the younger boys who was having trouble skating. He had taken the sandy-haired boy by the hand and was slowly skating around the outer rim of the floor. The boy looked much more confident now that he had a confidante to help him out.

I noticed Leper solemnly skating in the middle of it all, not falling even once. He was very graceful and intact. Brinker, on the other hand, looked almost as much of a klutz as I was. Once or twice he skated into other people, and fell down more than any of the young children skating around him.

Finny had left the younger boy, who was now skating very well, and was taunting Brinker. He made circles around his comrade, as Brinker tried to grab him and make him fall. But, every time he did, Finny would skate out of his reach.

I sighed, feeling somewhat left out of it all.

"Hey, Gene, feeling left out?"

"Aag!" I shrieked, falling out of my chair.

A hand reached down and pulled me up, steadying me.

"Come on, I'll teach you," the voice said, strongly. "It's no fun teasing Brinker, anyway."

I felt like everyone was laughing at me. I was the oldest, and least experienced person in the entire rink. And, I was holding hands with Finny.

"Skating is an art," Finny carried on, "like any sport should be. Once you learn how to draw, you can move on to painting, charcoal, and sculpture. Got the idea?"

"I think so," I said, trying to bury my face in my bangs. Of course, this was pretty hard, as Finny had decided I needed a haircut the week before and had chopped off all but a few of my bangs. "Finny? They're….laughing at us."

"They are?" he wondered, confused. He had been so absorbed in his "Skating is an art" speech, that he hadn't noticed everyone who was giggling and whispering about us. "That's strange," he said to himself, releasing my hand and putting his own behind his head. "I wonder why."

I, on the other hand, began to roll away from him, much to my disbelief. "Finny! HELP!"

At my shriek of horror, Finny looked over at me, somewhat shocked, and calmly skated to my aid. "You know," he mentioned, "when you said you couldn't skate, I didn't think you meant that you REALLY couldn't skate."

"What am I supposed to do?" I demanded. "Have my secretary leave you a memo?"

Phineas grinned sheepishly. "I guess not. Heh.."


	2. 2 I like you as a friend

Phineas grinned sheepishly. "I guess not. Heh.." He began to chuckle..

..which caused me to lose my balance completely. I toppled over backwards, before even Finny could catch me with his keen reflexes.

I lay there, unmoving.

Finny laughed and said, "You oh-kay?"

I grimaced. "I think I broke my butt."

This, of course, caused Finny to laugh even harder. "Maybe we should go rest," he suggested.

It wasn't long before we were relaxing comfortably in the food court. Brinker had bought some nachos that no one wanted to eat after Leper had sneezed on them.

Finny had been unusually quiet for about a minute and a half. He was staring out at the rink, numbly. Slowly, a smile crept across his lips.

Brinker noticed this, as I did. "What?" he asked, a little smile coming across his own lips.

Finny broke out into a full-fledged grin. "I'm gonna bleach my hair," he informed us.

"But, Finny!" Leper interjected. "Your hair's already blonde!"

"That's the whole idea," Phineas chattered, excitedly. "When I bleach it, it should be solid white! It'll be awesome!"

I slowly shook my head. "Whatever you say. Can we go home now? My mom is gonna freak out."

Finny seemed to be lost in his own world of bleached hair.

I snapped my fingers to get his attention. "Seriously, Finny. We need to go now."

My spaced-out friend snapped back to reality, squinting his eyes. "All in favor of staying, say Ai-yi-yi!"

Brinker, Leper, and I remained silent.

Finny shrank. "All opposed say..." He grinned. "All opposed, group hug!"

"If it'll get you to take us home," Brinker sighed, roughly grabbing Leper.

On the other side of the table, sat Finny and myself. Finny looked at me, with a huge beaming smile. I raised an eyebrow and lightly patted him on the shoulder. "I like you as a friend."

Finally, after dropping off Leper and Brinker, Finny pulled into my driveway. I sighed, relieved that I had made it home in one piece. Phineas sometimes got distracted, and that sometimes affected his driving.

I hopped out of the car, stalling before I closed the door. "Remember, tomorrow after school, I'm coming over so we can study for our Spanish exam."

"You bring the books, I'll bring the movies," he replied, snidely.

"Finny," I said, sternly, "we're STUDYING, whether you like it or not."

"I was only kidding," he said, comically. "You sound like my mother."

I closed the door, and he drove away.


	3. 3 Finny is absent

The next day, I got a ride from my dad and went to school. First block was art, which I shared with Finny. We were going to finish our wax fruit paintings, which would be about as much fun as any other class I was taking. Finny had decided at the very beginning to skip the wax fruit and paint his hand instead. Of course, he hadn't decided to tell Ms. Stephen about it either.

I waited around at the table I usually shared with Finny, setting up my paints and brushes. The first bell rang, and no sign of him, which was pretty normal. He had probably left in plenty of time, but had found something more exciting and fun, like a fast food breakfast place.

Soon, I was finished with my painting, and still no Finny. I began to wonder if he had forgotten the way to school. I made up my mind to call him if he wasn't there by third block, Spanish class.

Second block was Pre-calculus. My best subject. I've always been a whiz at math, whereas, Phineas had decided to take Algebra II Review instead.

After a few challenging problems and a returned test with a perfect score, Pre-cal was over. I was on to third block.

No Finny. Halfway into the class, I begged the teacher to let me leave. She requested that I repeat my appeal "En español."

I mentally groaned. "¿El….uso el cuarto de baño?" I pleaded.

"Sí, pero vuelve rápidamente," she replied, nodding.

"Gracias."

I fled into the bathroom, hoping that no teachers were in there. I fiddled around in my pocket for my cell phone and dialed Finny's number.

One ring...two rings...three...four..five...six...

"Hello, you have reached Finny's house of looooooooove. I'm just here recording this...well, I mean, I'm not exactly HERE recording this while you're listening. Now that you're listening to it while I...or, you're not exactly listening right now, but you are...I'm so confused!" BEEEP.

I sighed and turned off my cell phone. Finny always left his phone in his car. He also left his car unlocked, and left all of his stuff in it. He once said, "There's nothing in my car that I can't live without." He rarely even used his cell phone. He had an old phone still attached to its cord that used to be in his room but stopped working. He liked to put up to his ear and pretended to talk into while he was driving.

Anyway, Finny was either not answering his phone, or not in his car.

I trudged back to Spanish class.

Upon reentering, Mrs. Cortez questioned, "¿Aprendió usted algo mientras usted estaba en el cuarto de baño?"

I responded, "No se."

The rest of the day (history class) dragged on very slowly. Another boring lecture that I had learned two years before. I hoped that Finny hadn't decided to make himself scarce because he didn't want to study.

Finally, after a long, torturous fourth block, the final bell of the day rang. I sighed in relief, as I gathered my books.

I raced down the steps and to my locker. If I were going to get to Finny's, I would need to find a ride somehow. Maybe Ollie would give me one. He lived relatively close to Finny.

I caught him just as he was leaving his locker. "Ollie!" I exclaimed. "Wait up!"

He turned around and smiled a friendly smile at me. "Hi Gene, old pal! What have you been up to?" he asked, cheerfully.

I groaned inwardly. Ollie had a tendency to be very…..clingy.

"So..." he said, cautiously, looking around the hallway. "Is Finny...um...here?"

Ollie was also very jealous of Finny. "No. I need a ride, you see," I told him. "A ride to...Finny's."

Ollie's excitement suddenly died and was buried right there in the hall. He then shrugged. "Oh-kay. I guess I could give you a ride," he muttered. There was something in his eyes that made me shiver.

Ollie's car was nice. Not as nice as Finny's, of course, but it wasn't all that bad either. It was dark green with chrome around the edges. The seats were leather, and it had a great stereo. Finny's car was still better, though.

I began to wonder, as Ollie chattered endlessly though the sea of school traffic, if Finny, for the first time since I had known him, was sick. I had thought him to be invulnerable to all sickness and disease. Perhaps I had been wrong...

Finally, Ollie and I arrived at Finny's house. As could be expected, Finny had the biggest and nicest house for miles around.

I thanked Ollie and hopped out of the car. I heard him grumbling about something, as he drove away.

I ignored it.

Finny's car was in the garage.

I entered the code on the security lock, and the door to the house was opened.

I bid hello to Finny's mother in the kitchen, as I made my way to the stairs. Finny's mother was sort of...crazy. She always let Finny get away with anything, and she let him have his way all the time, which is probably why he ended up so free-spirited.

"Hello, Gene!" she exclaimed. I was almost free...almost to the stairs….She hugged me. And I thought I was going to be squeezed to death. "Oh, it's been SO long since I've seen you! How is your dear mother?"

"She's fine," I squeaked out.

"Well, that's wonderful!" she wailed, happily. "Finny-kins is upstairs in his bedroom." And, with that, she released me.

I pulled my collar back into position. "Oh-kay. Um..thanks."

I nearly jumped over the first few steps in my hurry to get away from her. I slowed down as I rounded the corner of the hallway that led to Finny's room.

I knocked on his door, which was covered in stickers.

"It's open!" he called from inside.

Spanish books in hand, I creaked open the door. Finny had a huge room. In fact, compared to mine, it was like an entire planet in there. Mine was a lot neater and tidier than his, as he didn't fancy cleaning, but his was definitely bigger. His house was a lot bigger than mine, too.

Nothing could have ever prepared me for what I was about to see.

"Hiya, Genie!" Finny waved to me. His hair...it was blue.

"What...did you do?" I asked, solemnly.

"Remember how I said I was gonna bleach it?" he wondered.

I facefaulted. "And it turned blue?"

He shrugged. "Yeah. Weird, huh?"

I sat down on an unoccupied chair. "Your mom wouldn't let you come to school?" I questioned.

He laughed. "My mom doesn't know I dyed my hair blue...or that I stayed home all day."

I rolled my eyes. "You are crazy. Now, you and your blue head get ready-"

"For snacks?" he cried.

"No," I said, wrinkling my nose. "For the most intense night of studying you've ever lived through!"

"No!" he wailed, falling over.

"Now, translate this sentence into English," I prodded. "Hablé con mi maestro en la fiesta de Nancy."

"I don't know," he whined.

I threw the book toward him. It landed on the floor with a thud. "Then, get to studying."

Finny moaned and held his stomach. "Quick! Get a bucket! I'm gonna blow chunks!"

I turned my back to him and turned on his computer. His brand-new computer. "I can't hear you. Maybe when you grow a brain, I'll understand your language."

I heard a loud thud behind me and was forced to look. Finny had purposefully toppled onto the floor.

"Well, that's it," he said, sadly. "You said it was impossible, but I've proven that it's completely possible to be killed by too much studying."

"You didn't study for a minute!" I argued.

"I took a peek at one of the pages, and it killed me," he said, as his legs dangled over his face, in his awkward position.

"Well, you know what I always say," I turned around, "the best battles are the ones fought about learning. Good luck."

I heard Finny sigh behind me and flip over. I clicked on a website called Knowledgia.

I discreetly heard the sound of pages flipping. Finny had probably given up, discovering that I wasn't giving in for once.

I was wrong.

In a matter of moments, I heard the buzz of Phineas' surround sound. Before I realized what was going to happen, a huge blast of music zipped through the room. It wasn't even music that kids our age listened to. It was Scottish or something.

"Finny!" I wailed. "Turn that down! I'm working here! You need to study!"

"I can't hear you," he teased. "My hearing has been blocked out by bagpipes!"

I groaned and felt like pelting him...or pelting myself.

Finny never studied once that entire night.

Soon, it was time for us to go to sleep. Since Finny had a huge bed, we shared it. He climbed in first, assuming the position beside the window, and I hopped in next to him. We always slept this same way. I would be close to the floor, so he could kick me onto it. Finny was a very heavy sleeper. He was also a very wild sleeper. I seldom slept in the same bed as he did, for fear of being maimed.

I was prepared for a (somewhat) good night's rest when Finny said, "Don't forget to say your prayers, Gene! I'll be quiet until you're done."

I waited a moment, not praying, but trying to act like I was. "I'm done," I said, after awhile.

"So, tell me," he whispered, "what did I miss today?"

"Not much," I replied, shortly. "I finished my art project, made an A+ on a Calculus exam-"

"PRE-Calculus," he corrected me.

"Yeah, yeah," I sniped. "I asked if I could visit the restroom in Spanish, called you, and you didn't answer, and nearly died during another boring history exam."

"I got a job," Finny said, quietly.

"What?" I demanded, having lost track of what we were supposed to be talking about.

"Remember that application for the clothing store that I wrote crap on?"

"Yeah."

"Well…..they accepted it."

"You're kidding!" I cried, unbelievingly. "They'll get mad when they find out you were lying!"

"It wasn't lying, exactly," he giggled, "it was more like half-truthing."

I rolled my eyes. "Go to sleep, Finny. We have to get up early tomorrow and get to school so you can finish your art project. If you stay up any later, you won't wanna get up."

"Good night, Mom," Finny said, sarcastically, as if I were nagging him.

"Good night, Finny-kins!" his mother exclaimed from the hallway.

I chuckled.

Finny facefaulted. "G'night Momma."

I slept fair enough. At least I wasn't pushed onto the floor.

I was awakened by sharp claws digging into the flesh on my face. "Ouch!" I cried, sitting up.

Finny fell backwards, laughing, as his cat, Mr. Finnymins, ran into the hallway.

"That was uncalled for!" I exclaimed.

Finny stopped laughing and said, "Well, I didn't want you to sleep all day!"

This brought me to my attention. I gazed at the window. It was bright and sunny, not like it should have been for that time of morning.

"Finny," I said, as calmly as possible, "what time is it?"

He looked at his watch. My blue-haired best friend was fully-dressed. "It's 10:00!" he shouted, cheerfully.

"WHAT!" I yelled, nearly knocking him off the bed. "WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP EARLIER?"

"Well, I thought you might like to sleep?" he suggested.

I slapped a hand across my face. "When did YOU wake up?" I demanded.

He seemed to be thinking. "Oh, about 5:30, I guess." He shrugged.

"What have you been DOING for four and a half hours?" I queried.

He pointed behind him. I looked and saw a ten-foot tall tower of cards, all perfectly angled, shaped like a huge castle.

I sighed and walked slowly into the bathroom. Once inside, I turned the water on cold, and put my head under the faucet. I heard Finny walk in and suppress a snicker.

"You are going to be the end of my scholarly career," I said, coldly.

"Or the beginning of it!" he argued, cheerfully.

In the end, I convinced him to take us to school. Once I told him that he had yet to show off his blue hair, he grabbed his keys and his books.

Most likely on purpose, he drove extremely slowly on the way to school. We would surely miss second block at the rate we were going.

"Hey! Look!" Finny exclaimed, pointing to the left. "They're giving out free pizza!"

I looked at the building. The sign said, "$1.29 slice."

"No, they aren't," I began to say, when he suddenly crossed over three lanes of traffic and into a pizza parlor parking place.

Phineas began to get out of the car.

"Finny," I interjected, flatly. "Can't we just go through the drive-thru? Please?"

"But, what about the atmosphere?" he demanded. "There's no atmosphere in a drive-thru!"

I sat, unbelievingly in a booth, as Finny waited at the counter for his pizza. I felt a gurgling sensation in my stomach, when I saw just what kind of atmosphere this was. Stains that looked suspiciously like blood splattered on the walls; week-old pizza crust practically glued to the table; floors that looked like that hadn't been swept or mopped, ever.

Finny surprised me when he suddenly sat down, flopping an entire pizza on the table.

"I'm really not hungry, you know," I mentioned.

"Oh, I know," he replied. "If you were, I'd have another pizza."

I groaned. "Finny, if you eat all of that, you're gonna get sleepy, and we'll never get to school!"

"Ah, you don't know what you're talking about," he scoffed, pouring an entire canister of Parmesan onto the pizza. "I would never be that irresponsible."


	4. 4 Finny is admired

At last, he finished every bite of his pizza. I sighed, more than ready to leave. I stood up, and began to walk away from the table. I realized that Finny wasn't following me. I rolled my eyes, and turned around to see what he was doing, and, just as I had predicted, he was fast asleep, his cheek resting in pizza grease. He looked strange, almost like he was dead or something.

I wasn't going to give up. I was going to school, and nothing was going to stop me, not even Finny.

I knew how to drive well enough. And, since I had my permit, and Finny had his license, it was perfectly legal for me to drive.

I tried to shake my blue-haired amigo awake, to no avail. He was dead to the world of the living. I ended up dragging him out the door. When the cashier gave me a funny look, I smiled and commented, "It had to be the oregano."

Soon, I was on my way to third block. Spanish. Finny could stay in the car for all I cared. I just needed a liable excuse for coming in so late. Finny would've known a good way to sneak in, or a good alibi.

I sighed, and decided that it was imperative to wake him up. I slowly pulled into an unoccupied parking place.

I turned to find him, fast asleep in the passenger seat. His hair shone an unusual purple color. His eyelashes twitched every now and then with his breath. Finny always wore faddish clothes. At the moment, he was wearing loose, tattered jeans and a long-sleeved designer shirt.

I elbowed him, and he yawned, and sat up. He suddenly snapped to attention. "Oh, no! I've been captured and taken back to prison! WHYY!"

I facefaulted. "Think of some way for us to go to school without getting in trouble," I requested, trying to be as polite as possible.

He yawned again, and then smiled evilly. "I have the perfect plan. Do you have any fake beards?"

"No," I replied, making a face at the question.

He snapped his fingers, unrelentingly. "Darn. Oh-kay, I have another plan. Follow my lead."

He jumped out of the car. I slowly unbuckled myself and got out as well.

Finny seemed to be acting like he wasn't doing anything wrong. He walked, non-stealthily, up to the office building.

"Finny, we're gonna get in trouble!" I shout-whispered. "I was thinking more along the lines of just, you know, sneaking in! Not telling them that we decided to come to school at our leisurely pace!"

"Don't worry!" he responded. "I've got it all planned out."

When we reached the check-in window, Finny strolled up to it and leaned across it dramatically, startling the secretary.

"Hi, Miss Stuckey," he said, easily.

The elderly woman smiled, in recognizance. "Well, hello, Finny, honey. How are you?"

"I am just fine," he told her. "Now, here's the thing: for some reason, the two of us are on the absentee list. Can you straighten that out for us?"

"Oh, goodness me!" she exclaimed. "I wonder how that could have happened." She began to shuffle through some papers, and made a circle around a section of one of them. "All fixed!" she announced.

"Thank-you, Miss Stuckey!" Finny exclaimed. "We'll be going back to class now!"

Just as the words left his mouth, the bell for third block rang. He gave me a sly smile, as I shook my head.

"Sometimes, you amaze me," I muttered.

We made it to Spanish I before the tardy bell rang. I sat to the left of Finny, and Finny was next to a girl named Valerie. Everyone knew that she liked him. Everyone except Finny, who chose to deny it.

"Hi Finny," she waved. "I like your hair." Valerie had long, brownish hair. She was taller than both myself and Finny. She always wore very short skirts that tended to ride up whenever she moved her legs.

I didn't like her.

"Hi Val!" Finny replied, enthusiastically.

"Buenos días clase," Mrs. Cortez greeted us.

"Buenos días, Sra. Cortez," the majority of the class replied.

"¿Cómo estas?" she asked.

"Muy bien, ¿y usted?"

"Muy bien, gracias. ¿Y, Phineas, qué usted ha hecho al cabello? ¿Por qué es azul?" Sra. Cortez asked, casting a sideways glance.

Finny looked completely confused, and said that only thing he could: "No sé."

Sra. Cortez continued with our "leccion."

I could tell that Finny was entirely bored with himself. He usually was if he didn't have someone to bother. He threw a couple of paper footballs at a boy named Jim, who was sitting in front of him, but other than that, he remained extremely bored.

At last, the boring majority of school was over and done with.

We were on to history class. Which was also extremely boring.

On the way, Finny proved once again that he was more popular than me. Several people spoke to him, or patted him on the shoulders, or even ran their hands through his hair.

"Hey, Finny-man! What's with the hair?" Brinker wondered. "What's up, Gene?"

"Hey, Brinks," Finny replied.

Brinker was the only person who spoke to me.

"Hi Finny," a girl said, shyly. "I think your hair is pretty." She was a cheerleader, one of the ones that got thrown up in the air. She was hot.

"Hi Kelissa," Phineas waved.

"What's up, my man?" some guy I didn't know shouted.

"What is up?" Finny responded.

"I like the 'do," he said, passing by.

"Thank-you," Finny called back.

A red-headed girl named Amy practically leaped into his arms, and said, "Hello Finny."

"Why, hello," he said, giving her an odd look. "I see that you're having a good time."

"Your hair looks totally turned on," she commented.

"Like a light bulb?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "Umm...no..." She rolled her eyes and walked away.

"You really know how to chase them off, don't you?" I asked, flatly.

"I try my best," he retorted. "We need to start carrying baseball bats or something. I never knew that there were so many people I know in the hallway. I just wanna get to class-well, I mean, I don't, but I don't exactly want to be mobbed in the hallway. You know where I'm coming from?"

"Yeah," I lied.

At last, we made it to history class. Most of the other students were already seated. I sat at the end of a table next to Finny and a boy we knew named Chad.

Mr. Smith, the history teacher for over fifty years, couldn't seem to stop staring at Finny's hair. I didn't blame him. It was such a bright blue tint that it caught even my attention sometimes. Mr. Smith must have decided to leave it alone, because he said nothing of it. He began the lecture, as if nothing was different.

I began to take notes like I was a machine. I took notes so fast, I felt my hand would fall off. The thought made me laugh in reminiscence. Once in an English class, our teacher made us take notes for an entire hour non-stop. Finny had passed me a note, saying that he wished the teacher's hand would fall off. Unfortunately for him, she took it up and read it in front of the class. Finny nearly died in either embarrassment or revelry.

Mr. Smith droned on about British colonies for some time. After about ten of fifteen minutes, Finny fell asleep. Mr. Smith didn't attempt to wake him up. No one ever did.

I continued taking notes like there was no tomorrow. Halfway through the class, we watched a short film on the Crusades.

At long last, our principal came over the intercom with the afternoon announcements, and before I knew it, school was over.

On the way out of Mr. Smith's room, I asked Finny, "Will you give me a ride home?"

He shook his head. "Can't. I've got track and field practice. I'm gonna run some laps."

I sighed. "I don't see why you're even interested in things like that."

"It's sports!" he objected. "What's not to like about it?"

I shrugged. "I just don't know what you think it'll get you."

"Well, say I got drafted into the War," he proposed, "then I'd be quicker than any Iraqis would."

"Whatever," I concluded. "I've gotta be going, though. I have to find a ride home from someone."

"You can take my car," he offered, jogging off. "I'll run home!"

I didn't doubt that he would. I just didn't want to be arrested for driving without a licensed driver.

I supposed it was inevitable that I track down Ollie once again.

I found him standing in front of my locker. I walked quickly up to him. "Hey, Ollie, what're you doing here?" I wondered.

He smiled a creepy smile at me. "Hi Gene, I hoped I would see you here."

"Why were you hoping that?" I asked him.

"Well, that's what I always do after school," he explained. "I always wait for you by your locker."

"Oh-kay, then," I said, casting him an odd look. "So, can you give me a ride home?"

"Of course-you're not going to Finny's, are you?" he muttered, darkly.

"Um…..no," I answered.

"Sure, I'll give you a ride!" he exclaimed, enthusiastically.


	5. 5 Ollie is weird Gene is suspicious

Ollie took me to my house and parked in the driveway. He proceeded to turn the car off. I stared at him, feeling uneasy. He had been uncharacteristically quiet for the entire trip. Thinking, I supposed.

"I don't see why you want to hang out with Finny, anyway," he said, tranquilly, not looking at me.

"Why not?" I questioned, defensively.

"Because he's only gonna get you into trouble!" Ollie yelled rashly. "He's only hanging around with you because you're really smart! He's trying to keep you from your studies so he'll be better than you!"

Everything stopped at that statement. I felt like I was standing on a cliff. All the occurrences in the past month where

I had goofed off with Finny instead of studying came back to me. Could Finny really be pulling me down on purpose? Was he trying to sabotage my chances for Valedictorian? Was he helping Brinker by distracting me?

"Whatever," I said, coldly to Ollie. "I'm leaving." I got out of the car and slammed the door shut behind me. I ran up to my front porch, away from Ollie, and what he had been saying. Once I was safely inside, I heard Ollie start his car and drive away.

My breathing sounded heavy. I tried to shake off the suspicion I felt.

I threw my things in my bedroom and looked in the kitchen for my mother. She was chopping carrots, and boiling something in a boiler.

"Hey, Mom," I greeted her.

She turned around. "Hey, Gene," she replied. "Where's Finny?"

"Track practice."

"You should call and invite him to dinner," she suggested.

"What for?" I grumbled.

She gave me a strange look. "Last I checked you two were still best friends. Did you have a spat at school today?"

"No," I answered, annoyed at the subject. "Ollie drove me home."

"Oh," she said, knowingly. "He's been trying to move in between you and Finny again, eh?" She sat down next to me at the dining room table, abandoning her cooking.

I shrugged, not wanting to talk about the subject.

"Ollie is jealous of your friendship," she explained. "He wants to be your only friend. That's why he's trying to make you and Finny have a fight."

I stood up and walked back to my room. "I need to think about this on my own."

I realized sometime later that Finny was indeed trying to interfere with my schoolwork. He was jealous, and always had been. He was better than me at sports and wanted to be better in everything else as well. I wasn't going to give in to him though. I wouldn't let him distract me.

I couldn't let my mom know that I was upset, though. I made my way back to the kitchen.

"Let's invite him to dinner," I said, as if it was my idea.

My mother smiled brightly at me. "I knew you'd come to your senses," she said, handing me the portable phone.

Finny arrived at around 7:00 p.m. I greeted him with normalcy, acting as if I suspected nothing.

"How was track practice?" I asked him.

"It was invigorating!" he exclaimed. "You know Andrew Smith?"

I nodded.

"Well, he was running and all of a sudden he tripped and fell!" He laughed. "He sat there on the ground going, 'Aye, my ankle came out from under me!' It was pretty funny."

"You like it when people fall, don't you?" I muttered.

"What?" he inquired.

I looked shockingly at him. I hadn't wanted him to hear me say that. "Nothing," I lied.

"Anyway, he was fine," Finny carried on. "He sprained his ankle, but he said he'd be running again in a week."

"Well, that's good," I said, half-heartedly.

Phineas walked into the kitchen. "Hi, Mrs. Forrester," he said, in a friendly tone.

"Hello, Finny, how have you been?" she greeted him without turning around. She had busied herself, draining a big bowl of pasta.

"Very well," he replied, grabbing some plates out of a cabinet and setting them on the table. He really enjoyed buttering up older people. "And how have you been?"

"Pretty bored," she answered him with a sigh. "Office work is very tiring and so boring."

Finny set the silverware on the table and sat down.

My mom set her pasta on the table. "Oh, thank-you Fin-what have you done to your hair?" she asked suddenly.

"Well," he began, "it's a long story, actually-"

And so began the most painful dinner of my life. I couldn't stop thinking about how, even though he was perfectly at ease and chatting with my mom, Finny was betraying me.

At last, Finny left and went home. I rushed into my room and plopped down on my bed. I noticed my forsaken schoolbooks abandoned on the floor. Now was a perfect time to start studying to catch up with all that Finny had made me miss.


	6. 6 It's YOUR funeral, not mine

The next day, I got to school very punctually. It was Friday, so I would have tests or quizzes in most of my classes. Finny probably wouldn't show up at all, knowing him, I had decided.

After getting some things out of my locker, I headed to art class, which was first. Surprisingly, Finny was already there, waiting for me. He was so unpredictable, it scared me.

"Have a good sleep?" he asked me, with a big grin.

"It was just fine," I replied, gruffly. I gave him an odd look. "What bringeth thou to ye olde school so early this morrow?"

"Phineas doth not understand thy olde English, Master Gene," he replied a playful tone.

I rolled my eyes, annoyed at him. "Are you still planning on handing in your hand painting to Ms. Stephen?"

He proudly held up his finished drawing. It was actually pretty good. It showed a lot of shadow and good brush strokes. Of course. Finny DID draw it, after all. "Yes, I am," he responded.

"Oh-kay, it's YOUR funeral, not mine," I murmured. (FORESHADOWINGNESS!)

Ms. Stephen strolled up to our table, her hands resting behind her back. She leered at Finny. "Well, I gave you an extra day," she said. "Now, where's my painting?"

"Well, it's actually MY painting," Finny said, testing Ms. Stephens' patience. He held up the painting of his hand so she could see it. "Ta-da!"

I waited for him to get yelled at or suspended. At least an F on the project. He received none of it.

Ms. Stephen calmly stared at the painting. "I did indeed tell all of you to be creative," she mused. "This is the most creative bowl of fruit I've ever seen." She laughed, shallowly. "You pass." The art teacher moved on to the next table.

I gaped, mesmerized at Finny and his drawing. Finny was beaming. He was happy that he passed, not caring about the grade at all. He was so carefree, so content, so perfect. He may not have been as smart as I was, but he was still so much happier. Nothing could ever hurt him or affect him. He was like an ancient Roman god. Strong and powerful, untouchable to man.

Finny caught my gaze. "What's up?" He smiled. "I didn't think the painting was THAT good."

I shook my head. I had received an A+ on my painting. Finny had barely passed. Why was it upsetting me this much?

I was relieved to have the next block without Finny. I didn't know if my conscience would leave me alone if I had to see his cheerful face staring at me, and haunting me.

After second block, I still felt as if I couldn't face him. I called my mom and told her that I was sick. She picked me up and I spent the rest of the weekend in peace. Whenever Finny called, my mom would tell him that I wasn't feeling well. I just couldn't seem to shake off the feeling that Finny was perfect. So much better than I could ever be.

Phineas was like a brother to me and he always had been. He always came up with crazy ideas that sounded like trouble, but were always a lot of fun. He had gotten me out of trouble more times than I'd like to know about. I knew in a single moment in time that he was betraying me; he was trying to destroy my chances of getting into a good college and making something of myself. He was jealous of my brains, and was trying to sabotage my learning processes. He was good at sports, not knowledge, and wanted to make sure that no one could be better at anything than he was.


	7. 7 Finny spreads germs to rule the world

After a long, and torturous weekend, I was prepared to go to school. I wore a pair of cleancut jeans and a tee-shirt underneath a gray pullover. I was going to act normal and calm.

I got a ride from my dad once again. I needed to visit my locker first of all to get my art sketchbook. The halls were thin at the time, so I had no danger of running into someone I knew. It was still fairly early in the morning. While I was there, I went ahead and grabbed my Pre-cal books as well. There was really no since in making another trip to my locker in between classes, and there were only three books in all, including the notebooks.

I was beginning to get tired of art class. Ms. Stephen could be very boring at times. I also felt that I wasn't getting anything out of art. I was no artist. Sure, I could draw simple shapes, and shade them, but I wasn't GOOD at it, like Finny.

Speaking of Finny, he was there, his beaming smile waiting for me. I was forced to slap on a small grin.

"Hi, Gene!" he greeted me. "Are you feeling any better? You're not contagious, right?"

I gave a stiff laugh. "Nope, not anymore." I looked around to make sure that no one else was in the room. "But, I think I may still have a few virus germs to spread on to you."

He plastered on a look of fake terror. "Oh no! Help me!" he wailed, as I tackled him onto the floor. We rolled back and forth on the chalky floor for a few minutes. He pinned me more than I did him. Once or twice, he accidentally banged his head on a table leg.

Finally, when two girls came in, Finny stretched and got up. I wasn't about to let him get off that easily. I tackled him with a surprise attack, and he hit the ground face-first. He took this as a challenge and shoved me under a table. He straddled my sides and gave a victorious cry.

"Gentlemen," Ms. Stephen's voice broke through.

Turning bright red, I pushed Finny off and sat up. I brushed myself off and faced my irate teacher. "I'm sorry, Ms. Stephen."

Phineas merely gave a sheepish grin to her and stretched out his hand. I grabbed it and pulled him off of the floor. He was always doing something to get me into trouble.

I sat down at our table and began to set up my supplies for the day.

He sat next to me. "What's the matter?" he wondered, quietly.

"Nothing," I murmured.

"You wanted me to catch your virus, didn't you?" he said, jokingly.

I went along with it. "It was the only thing I ever wanted out of life."

This got a rise out of him. He laughed and said, "It would have made your life complete."

I smiled. Then, I caught sight of what he was wearing. It was a pink shirt. But, not a normal pink shirt that boys are allowed to wear. It was a feminine-cut Tommy Girl pink shirt, with red sleeves.

Finny noticed me looking at it.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I'm an individual," he stated.

"You're going to get expelled," I argued.

"Yeah, so what?"


	8. 8 Finny and his pink shirt

After art class, I bid him farewell as he headed to his math class, and I headed to mine. I still couldn't believe he was wearing that shirt. And, to top it all off, he was supposed to give a speech at the assembly during fourth block. Everyone, including the principal would see it. Finny was bound to get in deep trouble. I was very anxious to see it, I must admit.

Second block dragged on very slowly. I was so ready to see Finny get suspended or something that the excitement made time seem to want to laze about at its own free will. We took notes all block, which didn't help the time whatsoever.

At last, it was over. I then had to deal with third block and Finny, once again.

And Spanish.

"¿Quién recordó de traer su diccionario inglés del español hoy?" Sra. Cortez asked as soon as the bell rang.

Few hands went up, as most people didn't know what she was asking. I didn't raise my hand because I had left my Spanish-English dictionary in my locker, not thinking that I would need it. Finny had his, but had misunderstood the question.

"Bueno. Nosotros los estaremos usando para escribir cartas a niños pobres que viven en ciudades mexicanas rurales. Esto será nuestra tarea de la cultura de la semana," she finished.

I shrugged. I could just share Finny's dictionary. I doubted that he would care to use it anyway.

I wrote a long, spirited letter to a little girl, whose name was Marta. I told her that I would like to be her penpal, and get to know her and her family.

Finny wanted to write to an imaginary Spanish boy named Carlos.

Later, after we were both finished with our letters, Finny reminded me that he was starting work on Saturday. He still couldn't believe that they actually thought he was serious. To tell the truth, neither could I. Underneath the section labeled, "Beneficial for this Occupation," he put "I have ten fingers and toes." He laughed about it for a full ten minutes after he gave the resume to the secretary. He probably never in all his wildest dreams thought that he would actually get the job. But, Finny was a card in Fate's hand, and Fate would have it that he got that job. When I first found out that he was accepted and hired, I thought he'd probably just blow the whole thing off. Finny surprised me again there. He was actually going to go to the interview on Saturday and start working on Sunday.

I shook my head and stared at Phineas, unbeknownst to him.

The bell rang that dismissed us to the assembly hall. Finny was the president of the FBLA, and was going to give a speech. In his pink Tommy Girl shirt. I was ready to watch him turn as red as the sleeves on his shirt when everyone laughed at him and he got suspended. I would have liked to hear a little of his speech first, though. He had been keeping it a big secret, and acting very suspicious about it too.

I bid him farewell, as I took a seat in the bleachers and he sat in a rather large chair on the stage.


	9. 9 Finny gives a speech

The principal and a few quest speakers began to drone on at first. Most of the people in the bleachers had shown up only to hear and see Finny's speech. Everyone was curious as to what he was going to say, what stunts would he pull in front of the principal? How courageous could Finny be?

We would have to suffer through the rest of the boring speeches until they got to him. It was well worth the wait in my eyes.

Another thing I began to realize, as I sat uncomfortably in the bleachers, was that everyone knew Finny. Every student and faculty member who had ever been present at our school knew who he was. And out of all those people, he had few enemies, and chose me to be his best friend. He could have picked anyone. There were dozens of people who would jump at the chance to be his best friend, and he picked me. Maybe he was simply unaware of how many people adored and worshipped him. He could pick practically any girl to be his girlfriend. I knew girls who would actually die to be with him, but Finny remained blissfully unaware of all of this. Maybe he chose to disbelieve and ignore it all. Maybe it just didn't suit his character.

I began to squirm around on the bench when Principal Baxley began to preach about joining the Environment Club and saving the world. I always got a funny feeling when he talked about it. Maybe it was because I felt guilty and probably needed to join. I simply didn't have enough free time for it, though.

The principal finally finished his boring ramblings, and Finny stood up and, bearing a huge grin, walked towards the microphone. Every one of the students began to cheer and clap as he made his way to the center of the stage. It was where he was born to stand. There in the center of the room, with all eyes fixed upon him. He gave a quick glance to the principal, who was, indeed, staring at his pink shirt. Finny shrugged at him and unbuttoned it slightly. It was a bit toasty in the assembly hall at that hour.

It was only then that I realized that he was wearing something much worse than the pink Tommy girl shirt. Underneath it, he was wearing the school flag around his waist like a belt. He could get expelled for wearing that.

"Good fourth block to you all!" Finny greeted the assembly. He was unafraid, and stage-frightless. "I have been asked to speak on the behalf of the FBLA, seeing as I'm the president and all. I don't know WHY I'm the president, but things don't always go quite the way you want." A few people laughed. "On a more serious note-" At this point, Principal Baxley stepped in and stopped him.

"Young man," he said, in a very serious tone, "what are you wearing? Did you get dressed in the dark?"

"He's gonna get it now," a boy whispered to another in front of me. I admit, I was kind of hopeful for this, too. I didn't want him to get in trouble, really, but to see how he would handle it would be worth a scare from Finny.

"No, Sir, Mr. Baxley," Finny responded, proudly, and completely at ease.

"Are you aware that you are defiling our Alma Mater by wearing that around your waist as if it's a belt?" the principal demanded. "Not to mention wearing a girl's shirt?"

Finny gave a little shrug. "Well, what with the war and all," he began, in a raised tone so he could make sure that everyone heard him, "I feel that we all need to be a little more liberated than usual. We need to cut loose and be who we are, not who we're made to be in school. And the school flag? What better way to show pride for my school than to proudly wear its flag? Don't you think Iraqis have pride in THEIR country? We should be just as proud of our school, Principal Baxley! Where's your school spirit?"

The principal glared at him for a good minute or so. Then, he began to laugh heartily. "Well said, son!" he declared. "I have no idea how any of that could be considered a rational thought, but you've convinced me! Go on with your speech."

"I already finished it," Phineas replied, walking off-stage. The principal didn't see it, but everyone else could see that Finny's grin had grown ten- fold.

Everyone clapped and cheered and stomped their feet as Finny exited through the side door and into the hallway. Soon, we were dismissed and left also.


	10. 10 Finny's faking it

That night, Finny called me on his cell phone.

"Are we still on for tomorrow night?" he asked.

"On what?" I replied, indecisively.

"Duh!" he said. "Every Tuesday night is our skating night! The Superior Skating Skinheads on the Edge!"

"Since when are we skinheads?" I demanded.

"Since we started our skating club!" he replied. "It's our destiny to skate together every Tuesday night!"

"I heard on the weather that it was supposed to be really cold tomorrow night," I said seriously.

"Ah, who watches the weather and takes it seriously besides you?" he wondered.

"I guess you're right." I sighed. "Good night. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"I'll give you a ride," he announced, and then hung up.

In the morning, I ate breakfast and got ready for school. I waited around for Finny until about 7:30 when I could stand it no longer. I called him.

After six rings, his mom picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi," I said, quickly. "Is Finny there? Has he left yet?"

"No, he's upstairs asleep," she replied. "Finny's such a wonderful boy.."

"Yes, I'm sure he is. Would you please wake him up for me?" I asked. "And tell him to get a move on?"

"Sure, honey," she said, hanging up.

I groaned and fell onto the couch. My mom stood in the doorway. "Are you going to be oh-kay?" she wondered.

"I'm fine," I responded, gruffly, covering my face with my hand.

"All right. I'm going to go grocery shopping," she announced, heading out the door.

Never had it occurred to me that she could have taken me to school. I doubted that Finny's mother would actually wake him up. Why didn't he have an alarm clock? I should have given him one for his birthday or Christmas or something.

I would never get to school at the rate I was going. I grabbed my books and began to walk toward Finny's house. I didn't have to fear for him actually getting up and going to my house while I wasn't there. Since his house was only four or five blocks from mine, I would be able to get there in time to wake him up and get to school in time for the end of first block.

I was only chased by one dog. It didn't get the chance to bite me, because I threw a stick, and the dog started chasing it. It took me about half an hour to get to Finny's. As I had predicted, he was still there. His car was in the driveway.

I jogged up to the front door and entered the code. His mother greeted me right at the door.

"Hello, Gene, dear!" she exclaimed, squeezing me.

"Um..hi.." I said, choking. "I'm just gonna go upstairs and get Finny-"

"Well, I'm afraid he's not feeling well," she told me, with a frown. "But, if you leave a message, I will be sure to give it to him."

"That's oh-kay," I assured her. "I'll just go leave him a message myself." I released myself from her and hopped up the stairs.

"If you catch it, I'm not taking you both to the doctor!" she called after me, turning on the vacuum cleaner and continuing with her tidying.

I knocked on Finny's door. A sticker got stuck to my hand in the process. I peeled it off and plastered it back on the door. He hadn't answered my knocking, so I opened the door just a crack. "Finny?" I wondered. "I'm coming in now." I opened the door the rest of the way. A pile of dirty clothes toppled over onto the floor as I did. I was surprised that it was possible to even live in that room. It was filthy. "Finny?" I asked again. "Are you dead?"

"Worse," came a response from underneath the blankets on his bed. "Dying."

"Why?" I questioned, sitting on the side of his bed. "And why didn't you pick me up and take me to school this morning?"

"Because I'm dying!" he burst out, sitting straight up, the blankets flying off of him. He suddenly made a funny face and lay back down.

"Why are you dying?" I inquired, going along with him.

"I have a terrible flesh-eating disease that's eating my flesh," he said, dramatically.

"Really?" I replied, sarcastically. "However shall we get rid of it?"

"We're going to have to cut off my skin," he whispered, covering his face with his hands.

"Where's my machete?" I asked, looking around.


	11. 11 Finny drives really fast

He gave me a look. "That's not funny."

I couldn't suppress my laughter. "That's never stopped you before, now has it?"

He buried himself in his blankets, pouting.

"If we don't go to school, I'm not going skating with you tonight," I threatened.

"What about next week?" he asked, peeking out from beneath his covers.

"Not next week or the next week either."

He pouted again. "Let's go to school. We HAVE to continue our traditions for six more years. If we don't...it will be chaos."

He all but leaped out of bed and into his closet. He didn't even stop to look at the clothes he was putting on. He grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me down the stairs and to his car.

"G'bye mom!" he cried, slamming the door behind us.

I barely had enough time to buckle myself in when he pulled into reverse and out into the street. I clung to the seat for dear life as he drove 85 mph in a 25 mph zone. If a little girl had tried to cross the street, we never would have even seen her.

We made it to school in record time. One minute and eighteen seconds, to be exact. We had only missed about five or six minutes of first block. And, if Finny could come up with a logical story, we could just walk into Ms. Stephen's classroom.

We sneaked past the school office and toward the art room. Finally, we made it to our first block class. I gasped as Finny's hand shot out to grab the doorknob.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

"Opening the door?" he offered in a normal tone.

"Without a liable excuse?" I demanded.

"I've got it all up here," he assured me, pointing at his forehead. He reached for the doorknob, gave me a wink, and swung open the door. Everyone in the room stared at us. I was about to ask him what he thought he was doing, but before I could, Phineas began to lean on me, as if for support, his arms draped over my neck awkwardly.

A few people in the class began to whisper amongst themselves; a few of them gasped; Ms. Stephen gave us an incredulous look.

Everyone seemed to be waiting for Finny to give an explanation, which he did give marvelously.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, dramatically groping at my shirt. "It was horrible! HORRIBLE, I TELL YOU! Gene and I! We were walking into school and suddenly! OH, SO SUDDENLY! A tree branch! A really, REALLY BIG TREE BRANCH! It was falling! It was gonna hit Gene! I had to push him out of the way! It would have TAKEN HIS VERY LIFE!"

I was having a hard time keeping a straight face while he dramatically told this story to our very trusting class and teacher.

Finny carried on with his story in the same dramatic tone he used for the plays he was in. "And, so! The tree branch keplankled me!"

"Keplankled?" Ms. Stephen repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Finny cast me a short, unnoticed glance, telling me to make a quick excuse for the word.

"Well," I began, in a nervous voice, "it hit him on the head, and obviously, it rattled his brain."

"Yes, it keplankled me," Finny said, obviously enjoying the new word.

Ms. Stephen sighed. "Take a seat, boys."

Finny staggered over to our table, enjoying the end of his performance. He still had the eye of everyone in the room. I followed him, trying to make a compassionate face.


	12. 12 Finny draws the lunch lady

A few people were still staring and whispering, but he had gotten us into class, subliminally unscathed, and we were home free.

He shot me a grin, unnoticed by everyone but me. He then proceeded to begin setting up his paint supply. We would be starting a new project.

We were instructed by Ms. Stephens to draw anything of our choice. I already had a plan to draw some lorikeets from the zoo. They had once attacked Finny on our class field trip there. He had bought some seed to give to them, since they were the only animals we were allowed to feed. Because he was playing around with Brinker, he spilled the seed down his shirt. This caused about fifty of the little birds to swarm over him and start pecking him. Finny has started screaming and running around while we all watched and laughed. Finally, Mr. Cashaak, our geometry teacher at the time, had had to call the zoo security guards to throw some seed in another direction to get the lorikeets to leave Finny alone. Finny almost never got all of the feathers and birdseed off of his shirt.

Anyway, I planned to draw one of the beautiful little birds.

I looked over at Finny. "What are you gonna draw?" I wondered.

He gave me a sinister look. "I'm gonna draw the lunch lady."

Finny, for as long as I had known him, had an obsession with lunch ladies. He thought everything they did was hilarious. He would always make a point to talk to all of them every time he was in the lunchroom. He had once asked one of the meaner ones to go with him to the prom. It was a strange obsession, but then again, Finny had many strange obsessions. Plastic sporks, for example, were one of the stranger ones.

I guess he should have been allowed his obsessions. After all, he was a junior in high school during "The War on Terrorism." Everyone got a little crazy. No one could maintain their sanity during wartime. Especially not Finny, or myself.

I watched as he sketched the plump outline of his favorite lunch lady. Her name was Barbara. He began to draw her face and cheeks while I watched him.

I shrugged and began to draw the outline for my lorikeets. I imagined what the picture would look like if I put Finny in the background. I blushed lightly. Finny was becoming a major part of my life, and he didn't even know or suspect a thing.

Soon, the bell rang for second block and I bid Finny farewell until Spanish class.

A young bird in flight that has just received its wings cannot be kept in a box or in a cage. It must be set free so that the world can see its flight, for birds do not always last through the winter. Instead, some of them freeze and some of them break their wings in the cold, frigid months. Only those who truly understand young birds will set them free. We must all realize the pain of a bird that is held and pampered indoors, when all it wants is to be liberated and fly with its brothers. If you truly love the bird, you should set it free.

Like I promised I would, I met Finny at my locker at the end of the day. When I got there, he already had it open and was stuffing his books into it.

"Don't you have a locker?" I asked, startling him.

"Of course I do," he replied, matter-of-factly. "It's just that it's on the other side of the school. Yours is more convenient. Otherwise, we would be meeting at my locker instead."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Are you ready to go skate?" I asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

"What are you kidding?" he demanded. "I'm always ready to go skating!"

I glanced at Ollie, across the hall. He was staring at us with a demeaning look of rage and anger.

Finny noticed my gaze and saw Ollie. "Yo! Ollie-man! Wanna go skating?" he called.

This surprised me. I had never known Finny to have a liking for Ollie. It most certainly wasn't the other way around.

"Get lost," Ollie said, sharply, walking away and down a different hallway.

Finny shrugged. "Let's go. Forget him."

I nodded in agreement. "You're right. We don't need losers like him hanging around," I told him.

"I never said THAT," Finny argued. "Let's just forget about it and go skate."

I nodded once again, and we were off.


	13. 13 Finny gets to be Gene's angel

We rolled into the parking lot of the skating rink, ready to go. Finny had brought his own skates from home and got them out of the trunk. I would have to use some of the ones that were owned by the rink.

Finny pulled the paperclip out of his ear hole. He kept it there while he was at school. He was very paranoid about it growing back together while he wasn't watching. He slipped his loop earring in, and twirled it once, superstitiously.

"Let's go," he said, with his ever-present grin.

After having to force myself to stick my feet into those black holes they called skates, we were ready. Well...Finny was ready. I was still a little nervous about skating. I didn't think I would ever be ready. I don't know what it was about it that I was afraid of, but for some reason I just couldn't get up enough courage to just roll onto the floor and do it. I would never be confident like Finny was. He was fearless in everything he did. School, home, sports, drama, you name it, he did it, and wasn't afraid at all of it.

Even then, he was staring at me, wondering why I was stalling. "Are you ready?" he asked, quietly. "Do you think you can do it?"

"Of course," I lied. "I was born ready." I shakily stood up on my legs, feeling like they were uneven. My arms wheeled around a bit, trying to grasp onto something. Finny's shoulder was what they found. I nearly knocked him down in the process, but he managed to support the both of us somehow.

I couldn't help but stare into his eyes. They were so captivating. I had never noticed how deep and solid they were. They had a little shine to them, as well, even though they were a dark color.

I blushed and looked away. I released his shoulder, trying very hard to maintain myself on my own. It proved to be too difficult a task for just me. I accidentally grabbed a cute girl by her arm, who ended up punching me before I could let go of her.

Finny appeared behind me, chuckling. He always thought it was hilarious to see girls creeped out at something.

Especially when that something was me.

Phineas helped to steady me, before I could fall again. "Let's take it from the top," he said, with a sigh. "Skating is an art, as I have stated before. You like art class? Well, now, you're gonna learn to like skating."

"I don't know. That sounds like a threat to me," I said, jokingly.

"Well, in this rink, it IS a threat," he returned, with a slight laugh. "You remember those paintings we started on today? Mine's of the lunch lady.." he whispered, dreamily. "Anyway, think of that. We're starting a new painting. We have a clean slate. Just like with skating. Nothing says you have to mess up or fall on your butt."

I tried to suppress laughter. Finny caught sight of my grin, though, and decided to keep egging me on.

"Nothing and nobody can tell you that you have to go out there and skate on the little kids, who just wanted to escape the comfort of their homes for the evening," he carried on. "No one is gonna tell you that you have to bump into every person you come across. Nothing can make you grab onto hotties for dear life and get slapped across your face."

By this point, I was rolling with laughter. I had had to sit down in the middle of his speech, for fear of toppling over.

He paused to catch his breath. "Are you ready now?"

"Yeah, let's go."

I was somewhat "skating" if you can call it that. I could barely keep my balance at all. Finny, on the other hand, was skating around like a pro, at a much faster speed than I could muster. It was almost laughable that he could go so fast and yet, fall so little. I didn't know if I had ever seen him fall of his own accord before.

He skated up to me when he heard his favorite song being played.

"It's my song, Gene!" he shouted over the loud music.

"I don't see why!" I yelled back.

He began to sing it, very loudly. "I'm blue, da ba dee, da ba di, da ba dee, da ba di, da ba dee, da ba di, da ba dee, da ba di."

"What's so great about this song?" I asked.

"My hair," he said, "is blue, da ba dee, da ba di, da ba dee, da ba di-"

"Oh-kay!" I exclaimed. "I heard you the first time." I had just about forgotten about the drastic color change he had done to his hair in the dim lighting of the skating rink. It looked almost normal amidst the multicolored lights that were spinning around the room.

I still couldn't understand why Finny could be so much better at skating than I was. Why couldn't I skate as well as he could? It was probably because he had skated every weekend ever since he was three years old. This weekend, of course, he would have to work instead.

"All right, everyone," the announcer said, in a drone voice, "this next song is for couples only. Anyone who doesn't have a partner, please get off the floor."

I was about to attempt to skate off to the side when Finny grabbed my right hand. After that, either because of my flushing face or the speed we were going, I could make no protests.

"When I first saw you I already knew

There was something inside of you

Something I thought that I would never find

Angel of Mine."

Great, I thought to myself. Just the song I needed to hear.

Finny didn't seem to notice that people were staring at us. If he did, he probably thought that they were laughing with us instead of at us.

I wasn't laughing.

"I look at you looking at me

Now I know why they say the best things are free

Gonna love you boy you are so fine."

I blushed heavily at this point. I knew that everyone, including Finny, had to have noticed my embarrassment.

"Angel of mine."

Finny was an angel, all right. But, he wasn't mine, and I didn't want him to be...or did I?

"How you changed my world you'll never know

I'm different now, you helped me grow You came into my life

Sent from above

When I lost all hope

You showed me love

I'm checkin for you

Boy you're right on time

Angel of Mine."

I came to the realization soon enough that I never wanted that song to end. Not now or ever again. I hoped that it would keep repeating over in over in my head forever. And I hoped that I could hold onto Finny's hand forever, too.

"Nothing means more to me than what we share

No one in this whole world can ever compare

Last night the way you moved is still on my mind

Angel of Mine

What you mean to me you'll never know

Deep inside I need to show You came into my life

Sent from above

When I lost all hope

You showed me love

I'm checkin for you

Boy you're right on time

Angel of Mine."

It should have been outlawed for them to play that song in a skating rink during couple skates when they allowed people of the same sex to skate together.


	14. 14 Gene passes out

I still couldn't believe I was feeling this way about Finny, my best friend ever since we were very young, though I never understood why he picked me.

"I never knew I could feel each moment

As if it were new

Every breath that I take

The love that we make

I only share it with you

You, You, You, You."

Finny was all I ever thought about and all I ever wanted. I wanted to live my life or end it with Finny and no one else. I would have done anything he ever asked me to do. I would follow him to the ends of the earth and to forever and back if he only asked me to.

Finny was so beautiful with his cerulean hair, his charming smile, his helpful stature. The way he always cared for me and worried when something was going wrong...the way he laughed at everything, even if it wasn't even remotely funny...the way he was so...perfect...

"When I first saw you I already knew

There was something inside of you

Something I thought that I would never find

Angel of Mine You came into my life

Sent from above

When I lost all hope

You showed me love

I'm checkin for you

Boy you're right on time

Angel of Mine."

Please, God, let the song last forever, I pleaded. Don't let it ever end. Let me hold his hand just a bit longer. Let eternity start right now.

I couldn't bare the thought of living without him, or losing Finny. Life without Finny at that point seemed futile and fruitless. I felt like I would die if I was alone without him. I could never tell him, which I believed to be a much crueler fate than the alternative.

"How you changed my world you'll never know

I'm different now, you helped me grow

I look at you looking at me

Now I know why they say the best things are free

Checkin' for you boy you're right on time

Angel of Mine."

That was it. The song was over. I needed air. I needed to sit down. I needed...Finny.

I caught his glance. "You didn't fall down even once!" he exclaimed, amazed. "That was great. You really like that song, ne?"

"Must be," I responded, feeling as though I didn't have a right to use my voice.

"Are you oh-kay?" he asked me, a tinge of worry slipping through his voice.

I couldn't respond. I was too captivated by the echo of his voice bouncing around in my head. It was so wistful and beautiful at the same time.

"Do you need to sit down?" he cried, nervousness dripping from his words.

That was it. I was gone. Everything around me in the room went black.

I was floating in a sea or darkness. Everything around me seemed to be bursting out with my feelings. My world revolved around the darkness, which encompassed and was me.

I could think of nothing. Nothing, that is, except for Finny. Finny was there with me, talking to me, calling my name, begging me to follow him and leave the darkness. But, I refused. I was too comfortable in the deep and soothing blackness surrounding me.

He pleaded with me again and I finally accepted. The darkness was comforting, but the sound of Phineas' voice was more so.

I opened my eyes to slits and saw Finny staring at me, intently, worry and frustration etched across his gorgeous features.

"Gene?" he whispered, his eyes watering a little.

The music had stopped playing. I could hear the sound of ambulances in the background. There were people standing all around me, their frightened faces turning to relief.

"What happened?" was all I could manage to say.

Finny smiled and shook his head with his eyes shut. He opened them, and said, "You passed out onto the floor of the rink." He paused and grew more serious. "But what got me so upset was that you just got so pale all of a sudden. You still look pretty pale," he mentioned, reflectively, "but a lot better than you did."

Two men in hospital uniforms wheeled a stretcher over towards me.

"I think I'm oh-kay, now," I said, quietly.

"Sorry," one of them stated, "but we got the call and we are required to admit you to the hospital staff."

Finny shrugged and tried to suppress a grin. He was loving all the misfortune I was going through. He probably would have rather it be him getting all the attention so he could feign some abnormal injury and get even more attention.

"What about Finny?" I asked them, knowing he wouldn't want to be left out. "Can he come to?"

"What relation is he?" the other paramedic asked.

"I'm his brother," Phineas lied with a stone-serious face.

"You can come if you stay out of the way," the first responded, sounding slightly annoyed with him.

They lifted me onto the stretcher in one quick movement. Soon after that, I was in the back of the ambulance, along with Finny, who was still enjoying himself far too well. I could do nothing but lay back and relax while the EMTs took my blood pressure and pulse.


	15. 15 Gene goes to the hospital

I felt a strange mixture of embarrassment and joy. Embarrassment for having held hands with Finny, passed out, and having an ambulance come to take me to the hospital. Joy for having Finny near me, worrying about me and trying his best to make me laugh.

I didn't care if we ever got to the hospital. All I could care about was Finny...and the fact that I felt like I had been hit by an eighteen-wheel truck.

Suddenly, a thought struck me. "Finny!" I exclaimed.

"Please remain calm," one of the EMTs said, sounding a little nervous. "We're here to help you."

"My mom!" I nearly yelled at him. "She'll be so worried!"

"I already called your mom," Finny told me. "She's on her way to the hospital."

"Did she sound mad?" I choked out. She would probably be angry and upset that I was being irresponsible.

"No," Finny shook his head. "Like you said, she sounded worried. Maybe a little angry," he added, with a grin.

I sighed, and just let everything go.

Before long, at least before I could have driven us there, we arrived at the hospital. The driver of the ambulance told Finny where he could wait for me.

"See you in a few," he said, with a wink. Then, he was gone.

The two EMTs wheeled me through the emergency entrance. A member of the hospital staff jogged up to the stretcher. "What happened?" she asked.

"Kid passed out in the skating rink," the first EMT answered. "Got real pale. He was out for about fifteen minutes."

"Get me a blood sample," the lady ordered a perfusionist. "Get the temperature, and the blood pressure, and let's send him home."

I was wheeled into a room where they lifted me onto a cold, stiff hospital bed. I looked around and rolled my eyes. I _would_ get the only room that didn't have a TV in it.

The people who had wheeled me into the room left, reassuring me that someone would be with me soon.

I didn't believe that for a minute.

Before I had the chance to get too bored, Finny somehow found his way to my room. The first thing he said was, "No TV? Bummer..."

"Isn't it, though?" I replied, dryly.

Finny plopped onto my bed, and took the chance to look around the room. It looked more like a storage room than a hospital room. There were boxes of supplies and a rack of scrubs. In fact, the room had just about everything, but a TV.

I rolled over to say something to Finny, when he hopped off the bed. He pulled some scrubs from the rack and tried them on.

He looked pretty convincing. If I hadn't known it was him, I'd have thought him to be a real doctor.

"Paging Dr. Finny," he said, muffling his voice to sound like an intercom. I chuckled lightly. "Dr. Finny, please report to surgery-oh no! I'm not ready for surgery!" he cried, feigning distress.

I laughed a bit more and mentioned, "You really look and act like a real doctor."

"Yeah," he added in a sarcastic voice. "And when you poke me with a needle, I really bleed." He found a surgical mask in a box. "Nurse! Prep me for surgery! I have to take out the patient's BRAIN! MUAHAHAHA!"

I laughed outright at this. I caught the attention of a doctor, who peeked into the room, saw Finny, and kept going.

I looked at Finny, and he looked back at me. We suddenly burst into laughter.

"Did you see the look he gave me?" Finny cried, between laughing.

"I know!" I replied. "He thought you were really a doctor!"

My mom came running into the room. "Gene! What happened? Are you oh-kay?" she demanded, stopping beside the bed.

"I'm fine," I reassured her.

She turned to Finny, who was still wearing the surgical mask. "Doctor, will he be all right?" she asked.

Finny looked at me and we laughed again.

"What is so funny?" my mom asked, sounding sincere and worried.

"I can't believe that after all the time that I've spent at your house," Finny said, "you still can't recognize me." He pulled off the mask.

Mom stared at him for a while. "Finny..."

"That's me," he mentioned, with a big grin.

Then, she began to laugh as well. "You just looked so much like a real doctor!" she exclaimed. "You should really think of going into it. It's a great field, really."

"He really does look like a med student, at least," I added.

"Thank-you, thank-you," Finny said, taking a bow. "I never thought I looked that old, but thank-you just the same."

At that point, a young male nurse came in. "Oh," he said, sounding surprised. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I didn't know you were already covering-"

"I have deceived you all long enough!" Finny broke in. "I am no doctor. I'm a fraud. I never went to medical school. I didn't even graduate from high school!" he wailed, pretending to sob into my shoulder.

The nurse was seemingly appalled. "You-what?"

Finny, my mom and I were all laughing by this time. The nurse didn't seem to like being left out of the joke.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

Finny took off the scrubs and hung them back up. "I told the truth, didn't I?"

"Why were you wearing that outfit?" the nurse asked.

"Just trying to make my pal feel a little better," he answered. "It took you long enough, didn't it? What if it was a real emergency?"

"We have to tend to immediate traumas before we can get to the lesser emergencies," the nurse explained.

"So, you're saying it's not serious enough?" Phineas asked. He had fooled the nurse and probably my mom with his serious tone, but I knew it was all an act. "What if I had accidentally pushed him out the window? Or he had slipped on an ice cube?"

"Well, I'm sure we'd send someone down to-"

"No! That's unacceptable!" Finny exclaimed in fake rage. "I demand for my friend to be seen this instant!"

"Yes, of course!" the nurse answered, nodding furiously.


	16. 16 Gene is such a wuss

The nurse did some basic checks on me: blood pressure, temperature, could I walk, etc. He wrote something down on a clipboard and left the room, promising that a doctor would come in as soon as he could.

My mom sighed and sat beside me on the bed. "Now, I want one of you to explain what happened!" she said, in her "ordering" voice.

"Well," Finny began, "we were skating around, nothing special, and at the end of this song, I told Gene that he was doing a lot better, or something to that effect. Then he started to get really pale and he wasn't focusing on anything. I asked him if he was oh-kay, and then he just fell on the floor. He almost fell on this little boy who was skating by, but the boy skated out of the way just in time. Then, everything stopped. The music stopped, the people stopped. I called 911 on my cell phone and then all the people were trying to find out what had happened. Then, Gene woke up, and the ambulance arrived, and that's how we ended up here. In a nutshell."

My mom thought for a minute, and then said, "I feel like I'M in a nutshell." She turned to me. "Do your feel all right? Are you sure?"

"I'm fine!" I exclaimed. "I promise. I just went around in circles too much I guess."

She stared at me for a long time, before saying, "As long as you're sure. Now, where is that doctor? Why does it always take so long?"

Finny grabbed the scrubs again. "I'll be the doctor. Give the patient three quarts of morphine and send him home," he said, trying to make his voice sound deep.

I smiled. Phineas was so beautiful. I couldn't believe I had never noticed it before. His smile, his face, his body...every bit of him was radiant and beautiful.

I loved him so much in that moment.

I know it had to have been over an hour before the doctor finally arrived. My mom had suggested leaving on our own more than once, but I declined. I wanted to spend as much time as I could in Finny's company.

At about eight thirty, a female doctor came in. "Hello..." She paused to look at the chart. "Gene. How are you feeling?"

"Fine," I responded, truthfully. I had felt fine ever since I had woken up to see Finny's beautiful features. I wasn't about to tell her THAT, though.

"What brings you in today?" she asked me, sitting in a rolling chair by a desk.

"I fainted," I told her.

"And you were out for ten minutes, I see..." She pulled out a stethoscope and put it on my chest. "Take a breath in...now out...in again...good." She wrote something down on her clipboard. "Well," she said, turning to my mom, "he should be fine. There's nothing physically wrong as far as the tests have shown. I'd consider staying home from school tomorrow, though, just to be safe. We wouldn't want you passing out in math class, now, would we?" She stood and walked towards the door. "You're good to go. Have a nice evening."

"Well, I guess we should do what the doctor wants," my mom mentioned.

"But, I feel fine!" I protested.

"No buts!" she exclaimed. "You have to stay home. I'm gonna go warm up the car. You boys hurry up so we can go." She left.

I was alone...with Finny.

I looked over at him. He was staring, as if in a trance at the doorway.

"What is it?" I asked, waving my hand in front of his face.

He blinked. "Are you kidding?" he demanded, standing up and throwing his hands into the air. "That doctor was soooo hot!"

I shook my head in disbelief.

"Did you see her skirt?" he asked. "It was on! You're so lucky! She touched you and everything!" He sighed and fell beside me on the bed. "I'd contract pneumonia just to have her take care of me."

"You're a sad, sick person," I said, flatly. "We should go..." That was a lie. I wanted to lay there beside him forever.

"All right," he agreed. He jumped off the bed after I did. "Maybe we'll see her again..."

"Yeah, yeah," I groaned, pushing him toward the door.

After we dropped Finny off at the skating rink so he could get his car, we went home. I was getting quite accustomed to the idea of staying home. I could always use a good day of staying home and sleeping.

My mom made me go straight up to bed and told me that she'd bring me some soup later. I once again mentioned that I was fine, but she wouldn't have that.

It was about ten o'clock when I finally made it up to my room. I considered getting on-line to see if Finny was there too. But, when I got to my computer, I felt a sudden tinge of exhaustion for some reason. So, I turned around and got into bed.

I listened as I heard my dad come in downstairs. My mom was explaining to him what she had been through.

He peeked in through my door. "Doing oh-kay, Gene?" he asked.

"Fine," I assured him. "No one listens to me, but I'm fine."

"We'll be downstairs if you need anything," he said, closing the door.

I sighed and rolled over. Why didn't anyone listen when I told them I was fine?


	17. 17 Gene stays home Finny gets black eye

I woke up the next morning to my mom's voice.

"I said, I'm leaving now," she repeated. "Will you be oh-kay by yourself all day?"

"Yes," I droned.

"Oh-kay. Have a nice day," she said, heading for the door, and leaving.

I rolled my eyes. I may as well get up, I supposed.

I went downstairs to fix some breakfast. I found some cereal and put some in a bowl. I took my cereal into the living room and turned on the TV.

That was pretty much how I spent the entire day.

It got to be very boring around one o'clock since there was nothing on TV by then, so I dug out my old yearbook from the year before and looked through it. When I got through all the seniors, I went to the very back, in the index and looked under Finny's name. He was in the yearbook sixteen times. I was only in it twice. I looked up some of his pictures. He was usually acting goofy or being silly or getting in trouble. The one picture of him being serious was when I had slipped on an icy patch on the sidewalk and hit my head. He looked really concerned. Up until that point, I had always dismissed it as him being a normal, worried friend. Now, I felt as though it was more, as if he were afraid to lose me, just like I was afraid to lose him. It couldn't be, could it?

I spent the rest of the day in severe boredom, never guessing that others were not having it as easy as I was.

At around three thirty, the phone rang. "It's probably Mom checking up on me," I said to myself.

I jogged over to the portable phone. "Hello?" I said, answering it.

"Gene?" It was Brinker. Why would he be calling? "Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," I replied. "What's up?"

"Man!" he exclaimed, sounding rather exhausted. "I think you really should have been at school today!"

"Well, so do I, but what makes you say that?" I inquired. He was acting so strangely.

"Because today during lunch, Finny and Ollie got into it!" Brinker told me.

"What?" I shrieked. "What do mean by that?" I had obviously gotten the wrong idea.

"Well, it was lunchtime, and you know that I have lunch with Finny, right?" he asked. "Well, so does Ollie. And, anyway, I wasn't sitting with Finny, so I didn't notice it right off, but soon I could hear Ollie yelling really loud, so I looked over there, and there was Ollie just like screaming at Finny. Finny was just standing there, looking at him like he was crazy. Well, Ollie wasn't gonna let Finny get away with that, so he punched him, and then he pushed him through a window! After that, Ollie didn't have a chance-"

"Finny beat him up?" I demanded. "No way!" Now I had two reasons to be worried for Finny. One: he could be hurt. Two: he could be dangerous.

"No, no," Brinker assured me. "But, you know how practically everybody at school knows Finny, and just about everybody likes him?"

"Yeah," I replied, knowing where that was going.

"Well, after Ollie pushed him through a window, he got tackled by half of the football team and even some of the cheerleaders! I would've gotten in there, but some vice principals came in and had to bust up the fight," he added.

"Ollie must've been waiting until I was gone so he could get at Finny," I said, mostly to myself, though Brinker overheard.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said. "The principal had to suspend everyone in the fight, except Finny, because Finny didn't actually do anything."

"Did Finny go home?" I asked, wondering how serious the damage was.

"Yeah, you know how his mother is," Brinker answered. "Well, I gotta be going. Take it easy, man."

"See ya," I said, hanging up.

That was the last straw. There was no way I was ever riding home with Ollie ever again.

I hopped up off the couch and hung up the phone. I wrote a short note to my mom, and left.

I ran nearly the whole way to Finny's house. I couldn't believe that I hadn't been there to help him, to protect him. I could have pressed a little bit more to get my mom to let me go to school, but I would have rather stayed home. Finny was my best friend, and maybe even more than that, and I had left him unprotected.

I don't think I have ever raced up a flight of stairs as fast as I did when I got inside. I didn't even bother saying a word to his mom. I knocked once and then flung open the door to Finny's room. My eyes instantly scanned across the room looking for him. He was lying on the bed, holding a bag of ice over his eye.

"Finny!" I exclaimed.

He removed the ice bag, revealing his swollen black eye. "Hi Gene, how's it hangin'?" he asked, giving a small grin.

"What happened? Are you oh-kay?" I asked quickly. "I-I'm so sorry..."

"Take it easy," he said, reassuringly. "You look worse than I do."

I felt like wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing away my sorrow. He looked so wonderful, yet so vulnerable to me now.

I opened my mouth to say something, but no words would come. I examined his body, looking for more injuries, but found none. He would probably have bruises in the morning, but they would pass in time.

He stood up and walked over to me. "You're not going to pass out again, are you?" he questioned. "Because I don't want to spend another five hours in the emergency room."

I smiled at this, though I felt like I wanted to faint if he would hold me in his arms. "No, I'm just fine," I lied.

"Good, because I can't stand being in hospitals anymore than I have to...although that doctor was really hot..." He gave a big smile. "Oh-kay, I changed my mind. Go ahead and faint."

I chuckled, and then grew serious. "What was Ollie so mad about?"

Finny shrugged. "He was yelling something about me stealing his best friend. I'm guessing that would be you?"

I sighed. "Yeah, probably. I can't believe him. He's such a creep! I hope he gets expelled."

"Yeah," Finny added, "but you should have seen his face when those football players tackled him!"

I laughed at this. "It's really degrading to get tackled by the football team and the cheerleaders."

Finny laughed too. "Let's go downstairs. Are you staying for dinner?"

"Yeah, I guess," I replied.


	18. 18 Little Kimi

I called my mom on her cell phone to let her know that I was going to stay at Finny's for dinner. She was a little irate that I had left without letting her know anything when I was sick, but once I explained the situation, she understood.

Finny's mom started out by making spaghetti. She then burned it somehow and ordered Chinese instead. She asked if we would go and pick it up for her, and Finny automatically agreed. He loved any excuse he had to drive.

We were on the freeway, heading toward Little Kimi's Chinese Buffet, when suddenly someone pulled out in front of Finny making him swerve and nearly hit a street sign. He stuck his tongue out at them as they passed us.

"Now, you see!" he said, a tad angrily. "That is exactly why I need a rear- blowing horn! Because of inconsiderate people like that guy!" He stared after the man in his rear view mirror.

"You are the only person I know who has ever requested a thing like that," I told him. "You're a very scary person."

"Nah," he argued. "Just makes me more lovable."

"Whatever you say," I murmured, shaking my head.

When we finally arrived at the Chinese restaurant, Finny surprised me by quickly jumping out of his car and racing inside. I stared after him, wondering why he was acting so strangely. Then, I saw what he was after. It was a young Chinese girl with long, black hair and a nice figure. Finny was leaning against the counter, talking to her.

I walked in and sat on a stool next to them.

"So," he said to her, "I take it you're little Kimi?"

She giggled and said something in Chinese that I didn't recognize.

Finny pouted. "Well, I need to pick up some wontons," he said. "Wonton," he repeated loudly.

She nodded and ran into the kitchen.

Finny looked at me and shrugged. "Chinese."

"Yeah," I said, nodding.

The Chinese girl came running back to the counter. She pressed some buttons on the register and announced, "Your total is $21.95 please."

Phineas gave her the money and winked at her, making her blush a little.

She handed him two brown paper bags and gave a little respective bow, which he returned.

"I'll see you later, Lil Kimi," he said, as we were leaving.

After dinner, (which was very tasty, I might add) Finny offered to give me a ride home, which I happily agreed to.

"So," he wondered, as we were getting back in his car, "will you need a ride tomorrow morning? Because I could always-"

"Swing by," I finished for him. "Yeah, yeah. I'll get my dad to drive me, thank-you."

"If that's what you want," he agreed. "I need to sleep in anyway."

I nodded with a sarcastic grin on my face. If only I could've slept in with him...after all the years of us sleeping together as friends, why had I never taken advantage of the situation? After innocently sleeping beside the unsuspecting Finny for years, now it didn't feel as though I could last an entire night by his side.

Love is a funny thing. If you accept it, and let it grow around you, it will one day blossom. But, soon after it blossoms, it will surely wilt and die. However, if you fear it, it may grow up around you unexpectedly and someday choke you with its lethal vines. Either way, you will be hurt by it. And, so will those that you love.

When we got to my house, I invited Finny to come in for a little while. I told him that my mom would want to see him and hear all about the fight. I didn't really know. I was only trying to find something to get him to stay with me just a little bit longer. I wanted to spend forever and the rest of my life with him. If only I could tell him. If only he could feel the same way.

As soon as we were inside, my mom walked in and told us to sit down on the couch. Immediately, she being questioning Finny.

"Now, what's this I've heard about you getting into a fight?" she demanded.

"Well," Finny began.


	19. 19 Ollie's heart to heart

By the time had finished his story, my mom's mouth was hanging open and her eyes were wide.

"That's an outrage!" she exclaimed. "Please tell me that that boy went to jail!"

"He was suspended," Finny responded, looking like my mom was frightening him a bit.

"I should call the school and complain about this!" she nearly shouted. "If you were my son, you know I would."

I halfway agreed with her. No one should have gotten away with hurting my Finny. Suspension was clearly not enough to take care of him. Ollie needed to pay for what he had done to my Finny. No one should have ever hurt him and I was going to make sure that no one ever did.

But, when did I start thinking of Finny as mine?

After my mom had finished with her rants, Finny went home. I wanted him to stay longer, but he said something about track practice that he had missed, and making up for it at his house before it got too dark.

I found my yearbook again and stared at the pictures of him. He was so perfect and attractive. I wanted nothing more in the world for him to love me back. Or at least to know that I had these feelings. It was so hard to keep the feelings all to myself, and risk telling them and having my social life ruined. No one at our school was gay, as far as I knew. If they were, they were too ashamed to tell. And, with good reason, I suppose. It was the kind of thing that could make or break a person at our school.

Maybe I should have broken the cycle and let everyone know. I had to at least tell Finny. He wouldn't be too mad, although I might have gotten mad a few years back if he had confessed something like that to me. How could I have ever not realized what I had?

The next day, I arrived about five minutes before the bell in art class. I didn't see Finny, so I tried to act like I didn't notice him missing. That satisfaction didn't last for long, however.

"Hey, Gene," a boy named Seth interrupted my thoughts, "did you hear about Finny getting in that fight?"

"Yeah," I replied. Wait...Seth was on the football team...

"Man, I was so mad at Ollie, so me and the rest of the guys tackled him," he explained.

"Yeah, I heard about that," I said. "Thanks for doing that. Who knows what Ollie could've been capable of...wait a minute!" I stared at him. "Weren't you suspended?"

"Uh-huh," he answered, casually, "starting next week."

"Did everyone's suspension start next week?" I demanded, practically jumping at him.

He looked at me blankly for a minute. "As far as I know.."

"That means Ollie is here today!" I cried.

"Ah, I doubt it," Seth said, disagreeing. "He's probably too embarrassed."

"I've gotta go find Finny!" I exclaimed, running out of the classroom.

"Gene Forrester!" Ms. Stephen called after me. "You had better not be late!"

I ignored her and raced to my locker. No one was there. Well, there was a girl there that I used to like who was talking to this other girl, but the point remains: Finny wasn't there.

I then ran up the stairs to Finny's locker. There wasn't even anyone in the hallway in that part of the building.

I hated having to resort to it, but I decided to look by Ollie's locker. I peered around the corner. As I had feared, Ollie was there. He was shoving some books roughly into his locker. Did I need to talk to him? COULD I talk to him after what he had done?

I slowly walked and came to a stop beside him. He looked at me with a look of anger that soon turned to shock when he realized who I was.

"Gene?" he questioned, his voice sounding weak.

I glared at him. "Why?" I asked him simply.

"Because you and Finny are always together!" he burst out. "And I'm sick- SICK of it! You don't even want me or anyone else as a friend. You never even gave me a chance. You always ignore me no matter what I do! I guess it has to be something to do with Finny before you'll pay attention to me!"

Had I caused all of this? Was it actually my fault? I had never noticed it, but who would? How often had I turned Ollie down because I wanted to go do something with Finny instead? Was I responsible for all this pain? For all this chaos? For the suspension of half of the football team and three of the cheerleaders?

It was so overwhelming. I didn't know what to do. So, I did the first thing I thought of. "I'm sorry," I apologized. "I mean, I-god, Ollie, I'm so sorry.." It seemed that I had been apologizing a lot lately. Was it really necessary?

I was so absorbed in my train of thought that I didn't notice Ollie coming closer toward me. Before I knew what was happening, he grabbed me around the shoulders and hugged me, sobbing lightly. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I put a hand over his shoulder and patted it.

"I'm sorry!" he wailed. "I never set out to hurt him or you...I was so miserable for such a long time...please don't hate me, Gene!"

Amidst all of Ollie's sorrow, I felt a strong urge to be holding Finny like that. If only Finny would confide his deepest distresses in me. I had never known him to be much of a divulger. He was much more of a confidante to me and every life that he had touched. He was so beautiful and so much better than me.


	20. 20 Finny lifts weights

"Spot me?" Finny asked, after he had stretched and warmed up his muscles.

"Sure," I replied, feeling a little winded. Did he really trust me that much?

Finny lay down on the benching table after he had put 100 and 50 pound weights on each side.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" I asked him. "I mean, you haven't practiced or anything. Maybe you should start smaller."

"Nah," he argued. "I know I'm ready for this."

He placed his hands on the weight bar, slowly finding a good grip. I stood behind him, ready for any notice that he couldn't support all the weight. I wouldn't want his ribs to be flattened, or his neck either. He steadily lifted the weights over the bar they were resting on and lowered it over his chest. He then pushed it up at an arm's length away and then brought it slowly back down. It was a strange sight indeed. All the other boys that I had ever seen do it had made weird faces and noises when they pushed the weights back and forth. Finny did neither. He looked as he always did, although he was concentrating a little bit more. He managed to lift the weights up and down ten times before he all but slammed them back onto their rack.

He lay there on the bench, panting heavily. "Well," he said, simply.

"That was great!" I congratulated him. "If you can do that again in front of Coach Peters, you'll have the new school record!"

He shook his head, with his eyes closed. "No, I don't wanna do that. Let's just keep it a secret, all right?"

I was shocked, to say the least. "But why not?" I demanded. "You were just saying that that was the best our school could do, and now you've got a chance to prove them wrong and you don't want to?"

"Why spoil it for A. Patterson or whatever it was?" he asked. "It doesn't matter. Let's go."

He grabbed a towel and headed for the exit.

I could not believe what I was hearing. Finny, who always tried gaining the attention of everyone he could, didn't want anyone to know that he had broken a record? This was insanity. I decided that Finny was delusional and decided that it was a good idea to leave and head for home.

As he couldn't find anything important to talk about, Finny turned on the radio in his car as we were going down the interstate.

He began to sing along with one of the songs. Then, he changed the station and sang to that song, as well. He changed the station every ten seconds, and, without skipping a beat, sang whatever song was on. I was impressed.

Finny was so beautiful, with the wind flowing through his oddly-colored hair, his lips moving with the rhythm of the songs, his body shifting as he maneuvered the car around curves and bends.

I could stand it no longer. I had to be with him and I had to let him know.

"Finny," I said, softly.

"Yeah?" he replied, looking from me and back to the road a couple of times.

"I have something that I have to tell you."

"Oh-kay. Shoot," he ushered.

I closed my eyes tightly. "I like you more than a friend," I said. I didn't know of any other way to put it. I thought it best to break the news to him easily.

He glanced at me. "I've felt the same way for years," he told me.

I was overjoyed to say the least. I felt like hugging him and kissing him and holding him close. "Do you really feel that way?" I asked, wanting conformation.

"Of course," he replied, without a pause. Then, he said something that assured me that he and I would never feel the same way for one another: "You know you'll always be my best friend."

I couldn't reply. I nodded, so he wouldn't be able to tell that something was wrong. But, I felt it deep in my heart: my love could never ever love me back. I had never felt a pain that hurt so much and so deeply. It felt liked I had slit my heart open with a razor. I said nothing for the rest of the way home.

Once Finny dropped me off at my house, I went inside, straight to my bedroom. I couldn't help myself. I began to cry into my pillows.

No matter what I did, Finny would never love me back. He would never understand the way I felt. This pain I had been feeling, this longing and suffering would never be satisfied. I didn't know if I could go on living with these feelings.


	21. 21 Gene has lost his mind

Would Finny ever understand me? Would he ever care enough to? I couldn't put all the blame on him, of course. I was too embarrassed and afraid to let him know how I felt.

Love can take you to the edge and beyond. It can bring you everything you ever dreamed of, and everything you were ever afraid of in the same blow.

Love, while meaning worship for another being to the point that you hate yourself, can also mean loving that person until you hate yourself, them, and the rest of the world. Love can involve a lot of obsession and fetishes.

Nothing, not even love, can last forever. Unless by some miracle two souls can be united in the afterlife, that is.

My love for Finny had sprouted leaves, then blossomed into a gorgeous flower, and turned black with hatred in less than a week.

I was confused all the time. I never knew what direction my heart was leading me in. I never knew if I loved Finny, or hated him and wanted nothing more than his death. Sometimes, I didn't know up from down, left from right, or light from darkness. I had become very forgetful, doing terribly on tests that should have been a breeze to me. I wanted to lay all of the blame on Phineas, but I couldn't make myself believe that it was his fault forever. In the end, I knew I had brought all of this upon myself.

Love, though it usually represents something good, can cause very evil thoughts and actions. I soon discovered that I couldn't get the image of Finny, sleeping unsuspectingly in his bed, out of my mind. It kept reappearing all night. I wanted to be with him there again. And, this time, I wanted him to know that I loved him. I would be bold and unafraid of what he thought and what he said. I would confess my deepest desires and affections for him.

And, he would love me back.

I decided, as I lie awake on my bed into the early morning hours, that the following night, Saturday, after Finny had spent a hard day at work, I would sneak into his house and confess all my secret fondness for him. I would make him listen to me all the way through. He would understand with time. He may hate me at first, but soon he would have to give in, as well. He would be too tired to protest against what I had to say. I would let him know exactly how I felt. Perhaps I would get a love confession from him as well. It would be perfect, like Romeo and Juliet acknowledging their love for the first time.

Only slightly different from Shakespeare's version.

I didn't get a wink of sleep all night. I kept thinking in circles, going off target for a few minutes, but always getting back to Finny, who was in the middle of all the circles.

He was the new center of my world, the apple of my eye, and everything I lived for.


	22. 22 Finny gets lucky

The next day, I swore to my parents that I was sick, and since they knew I wasn't trying to get out of school because it was Saturday, they believed me.

So, I stayed in my bed for the rest of the day.

I wasn't bored for a moment. No, I had plenty to think of. I had time to plan out my night's pretenses. This time, Finny would have no reason to doubt that I loved him. He would know my secret affections, and he would love me for it.

Before I even tried anything, at least as I planned it, I would show myself to him and confess everything. Then, he would let me know how he felt, and we would divulge in my fantasy world. It went perfectly in my mind. I could take care of him, and he for me. We would be one of the greatest love couples in all of history.

I did get a tad bored later on that day. I wanted desperately to call Finny just to hear his voice. I didn't because I feared that he would suspect. That I had some kind of intuition that didn't quite go with the rest of my character. I couldn't afford that kind of indictment. It wouldn't fit with the rest of my plan. Did he suspect it already? Would he hate me forever?

All these questions are what kept me from getting out of bed, and from calling him.

I wiled the rest of my Saturday away with thoughts of Finny and my heinous desires. I recalled memories of past days I had spent with Finny. Times when I could have let him know how I felt, or at least tried to steal a kiss. How could I have ever been so naive and stupid? It seemed that I had had an eternity to tell him, and, yet, now, I sensed that I wouldn't have that much time left to go. Call it instinct, call it whatever you like. I wasn't going to let that chance slip out of my fingers again.

Though it felt like forever, the time came when my parents were fast asleep. They had, of course, made a big fuss over me and my "sickness." They advised me on getting a good night's rest in order to be prepared for school on Monday morning. I certainly planned on a good night, just no rest.

I sneaked out just as I had many nights before, without my parents' notice, or so I hoped.

On the way, hundreds of new questions flooded through my head. What if I choked on my words again? What if I couldn't tell him? What if I did tell him and he called the police and told them that aliens had taken over my mind?

I couldn't help but laugh at that. It sounded like something Phineas would do. I would've felt better, had I not been so afraid and nervous.

Once again, I punched in the security code and let myself in. I stopped in the foyer to have a think. I wondered if Finny had even felt much like going to work. Maybe he had called in sick, and stayed in bed just as I had. I corrected that thought immediately after having it. That hadn't sounded like the Finny I knew at all. This brought on another new concept: did I know Finny anymore whatsoever? Had I ever known what went on in his enigmatic mind? All of these disturbing thoughts seemed to want to take me back outside and back to my house, but my body didn't want to follow my mind at that particular moment. My body needed another gratification. It needed Finny.

Again, I climbed the stairs up to his room, being careful of the sixth step. I slipped down the hallway, admiring a picture of him that was hanging on the wall. It was funny. I had never noticed it before. Finally, I reached his bedroom door. I took a deep breath. I had to make sure I was mentally and physically ready for what I was about to do.

I glanced at a rather large sticker with a slogan that said, "Go for it!" It was very fitting. I was thankful for it, however silly it may have been. That was the only encouragement I needed. I opened his door without making it creak at all. I tiptoed toward his bed, and was about to climb in, but I noticed something that made me stop dead in my tracks. I felt like my heart wanted to stop too. Lying beside him, with her head on his bare chest, was a girl that I had never even seen before. She was pretty, too. The kind of girl I might have been attracted to in the old days. She wasn't exposed or anything, but I could tell that she wasn't wearing any clothes. I couldn't tell about Finny. For all I knew he could have been wearing pants or shorts but just no shirt.

It was more than enough for me. I didn't bother about sneaking out. I practically broke the door open. I could feel the tears stinging in my eyes. He had betrayed me and I couldn't forgive him. Not now, not ever. I burst out of the front door and slammed it shut behind me. I could care less if I was heard. I must have had my eyes closed, because I barreled straight into a street light pole and all around me everything went black.

When I awoke, I felt as if I were reliving the episode at the skating rink. You know. Like déjà vu or something. There, hovering over me wearing a blue housecoat, was Finny. He had a fearful look in his eye just as he had the last time I had blacked out. Probably the only two differences were the grass wet from dew that I was lying in, and the fact that my head was pounding.

"Gene!" he exclaimed. I noticed that his black eye was looking better and his torn earlobe wasn't as swollen. I saw a couple of new bruises on his face. "What happened?" he demanded. "Are you oh-kay? How many fingers am I holding up?"

I squinted, mockingly. "Just one, and it's not that nice one, either."

I could see a hint in his face that told me he wanted to laugh, but felt that he needed to be serious. "I called your house today to tell you the great news, but your mom said you were sick," he explained. "I didn't know you were THIS sick."

"Yeah, neither did I," I responded. I tried my best to play it cool. Not to let him know what was really going on. There was no chance that I could tell him now. I paused, and then asked, "What great news?"

He blushed for a moment. "Well.." He looked at the ground and began to twirl a piece of grass around his finger. "My new boss and I...we hit it off real good, and..."

"Hi," a new voice said. It sounded like the voice of a beautiful angel. "Are you oh-kay?" She kneeled beside Finny. It was the girl who had been sleeping with him. She was wearing Finny's blood-red housecoat.

"I'm fine," I reassured the both of them.

"Well, then," Finny said in the voice he used before he was about to say something accurate, "this is my boss, Ms. Peach."

She elbowed him in the ribs, playfully. "I told you to call me Peach. You don't have to call me Miss!"

"Congratulations," I said, sarcastically. "I'm sure you'll both be very happy together."

Finny laughed. "Don't worry, pal. You'll find your match someday.


	23. 23 Gene is not so lucky

I wanted so badly to tell him that I had already found my match. That it was him. I just couldn't force the words out of me, though I wanted to so terribly.

I saw Finny's eyes narrow, inquisitively at me. "Did that pole scratch your face up like that?"

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

Finny looked at my face for a few more seconds, and then shook his head and stood up. He reached his hand over to help me up. I thankfully grabbed it, and tried to take my time getting up. If I could have held his hand forever, I would have.

But, now a new and even bigger obstacle had fallen into my path: Finny was in love with someone else, and if I told him how I felt now, he would surely hate me. I couldn't bare the thought of ruining his happiness. And her happiness, too.

After that night, I just went along with whatever was thrown at me. I went skating every Tuesday night, I continued to try studying when Finny wasn't bothering me, and I still felt strong affections for him that I couldn't express. That was just the way I let everything fall into place. I pretty much didn't try to force anything the way I wanted it. Finny remained my best friend, but nothing more. Peach and I actually became very good friends over time. She was a very nice person, and I admired the relationship she had with Finny.

I had a lot more time to study, now that I was over obsessing about Finny. I got more serious about my grades.

One night in particular stands out more than any night I can recall.

It was raining out, and I had a big Pre-calculus test the next day. It was Tuesday, so I had to blow off The Superior Skating Skinheads on the Edge for once.

Phineas was surprisingly understanding about it and allowed me to go to study in peace. He still planned to go himself with a few others that he had enlisted.

He had dropped me off at my house, so I wouldn't waste any time.

I traipsed up to my room and went straight to studying. There were a few new problems that I wasn't familiar with, and I wanted to practice them a few times until I felt comfortable with them.

Not even five minutes into my studying, my bedroom door was flung open. Finny walked in, eyes wide with anticipation.

"Gene!" he exclaimed. "Leper just beeped me, and when I called him, he said that he was ready to be inducted into the SSSE!"

I merely muttered something and kept my eyes downcast on my Pre-cal book.

Finny drew closer to me and cupped his hands around his mouth, as if to magnify his voice. "As a Senior Member, you must be present at his initiation!"

I had had enough of Finny's shenanigans. I don't know what it was, but I blew my top right then. "God, Finny!" I shouted, standing up to face him. "You just can't resist interrupting my schoolwork, can you? You can't stop until my academic future is ruined! Finny, I'm fed up! I'm through being a Senior Member, and a member altogether! Maybe you don't care about grades, but I DO!"

He didn't have an outrageous comeback that I expected him to have. He just looked at me, and then calmly said, "You want to study?"

"Yeah! Duh!" I responded, sarcastically.

"Then, you should stay here," he said, in agreement with I had said. "See you tomorrow at school!" He left the room, shutting the door quietly.

I sat there, in absurd silence. That was it? He wasn't going to try to convince me to go with him? I jumped out of my chair, abandoning my books, and raced after him. It didn't occur to me until later that he had succeeded.


	24. 24 Finny's big break

Finny didn't seem the least bit surprised that I was going with him. He shouldn't have. I always ended up going along with whatever he had to say.

"You know," I mentioned, as we drove toward the skating rink, "Leper's not going to join."

Phineas cast me a sidelong glance. "Well, over the phone, he promised that he would," he told me, with a triumphant nod. "Put that in your biscuit and eat it."

I laughed at this absurd comment. "Biscuit?" I questioned. "Where in the world did you come up with that?"

"No idea," he replied, with a grin.

"Will Peach be there tonight?" I asked after a long silence.

"Nah," he said. "It's not really her scene, I guess. I have to work everyday next week...I thought we agreed that it was only a weekend thing, but apparently not. She's such a masochist."

"Sorry, man," I said, not knowing what I was apologizing for.

We arrived at the skating rink. I was already wearing my in-lines. Eventually, after getting sick of the disgusting skating rink skates smell, I had had to buy my own. Finny similarly had a pair of his own. They were pink. Mine were blue, thankfully.

We skated inside. Well...to be technical, Finny skated. I grabbed onto the back of his shirt and was pulled inside.

I saw Ollie. He had been inducted into the club the Tuesday after the fight. I also saw Brinker and Tom, whom we had met one night during a meeting. He wasn't in the club, technically, but he usually made it a point to talk to us.

A familiar song was playing, so Finny shuffled over to the rink, with me trying very hard to keep up. I had hardly improved since the first time I had begun skating. Finny hadn't improved either, although he didn't really need to.

As usual, I was left in the dust, while Finny glided across the floor with ease. I bumped into several people, mostly girls, which gave them the idea that I was some kind of a pervert. I got a lot of nasty looks, and a bit of painless slapping.

When Finny noticed my predicament, he slowed down to give me the chance to catch up. As soon as I was in earshot, he said, "I think it's about time I gave you another lesson. After all, you can't go on skating around like you're insane and keep my company."

There was his arrogant side coming out again. He thought he was so much better than me. I didn't leave my studying to go there and be insulted. I didn't hear anything else he was saying to me. I was bubbling with rage. I saw Brinker only a few feet away. Finny was within reach of me. Suddenly, my weight shifted, and I barreled into Finny, sending him scrambling towards Brinker. He knocked Brinker down, and then flipped over halfway and went down with a thud, and a large cracking sound.

Everything seemed to stop. I could hear my breath catch in my throat. I could hear Finny moaning in pain. I could hear my skates rolling in rhythm with my heartbeat. I have never, and never will again skate as well as I did in that moment. I neither stumbled, nor titled. I skated just as well as Finny did.

The music was halted. "Is he oh-kay?" the announcer demanded, as I knelt beside him. No one answered, so she said nothing more and went to call an ambulance.

Brinker sat up, jarred out of his mind by what had happened. Having taken a class on healthcare and believing that he knew more about the subject than anyone present, Brinker began to ask questions that seemed to me irrelevant.

"Finny, is your vision swimming?" Brinker demanded, in an uppity tone.

"How should I know?" Finny groaned, holding his head.

"Are you experiencing difficulty in breathing?"

"No!"

"Is your heart functioning properly?"

"God, Brinker, would you leave me alone?" Finny wailed. It was the first time I had seen him truly angry at someone in a long time.

Brinker's face turned pale at this, and he didn't say anything else. He didn't have too much time to think about it, because soon the paramedics arrived.

I looked up when I saw, them, and then back to Finny, as if to reassure him, when I noticed that there was a large blotch of red on his green pants. He was bleeding.

The paramedics knelt beside me, and asked that everyone back up. I stood up and backed up a step, in amazed wonder at what had just happened. Questions flew through my mind. Did I just do this? Was it a conscious action? Had I purposefully hurt the only person I had ever really loved? Had I hurt my best friend, the one individual that I trusted more than I did myself?

I put my mind on hold and listened to what the paramedics were asking him.

"Where does it hurt?" one of them asked.

He felt a bit more obliged to answer them than he did Brinker. "Everywhere," he responded, wrenching in pain.

While the first EMT was asking him questions, probably to get him mind occupied, the other was ripping off the leg of his pants. He opened a large first aid kit and shuffled through it until he found some gauze. He cleaned away some of the blood that was gushing from right above Finny's knee. I felt like I could vomit, but decided I should be more supportive than that.

I heard the second EMT whisper to the first, "The fibula has punctured the skin."

My throat suddenly felt really dry. What had I done? I felt a lump in the back of my throat, and couldn't swallow it down. My eyes were stinging. I had never felt guilt so strongly before, and I wanted to crawl away and die.

I was jolted from my thoughts by Finny's cries of pain. The second EMT was putting pressure on Phineas's knee and asking if it was hurting. Obviously, it was.

Soon, a gurney was brought in to carry Finny to the ambulance. He said nothing to me. He knew what I had done. I didn't ask to go with them. My head began to pound in my skull. I felt like vomiting again, but called my mom to come and get me instead.

Though I didn't want to, my mom insisted that we go to the hospital. We arrived an hour and a half after Finny had been taken into the ambulance. I was shaking with fear as I was shown the way to his room. He would hate me. He would hate me more than he hated cabbage. I almost snickered at that, but still felt too nervous to do anything of the sort.

My mom told me that she would wait for me in the lobby while I went in to see Finny. This gave me a great opportunity to tell him what had happened and make it up to him somehow. As I made my way to the room, B14, I silently rehearsed what I would say to him, how I would kindly explain what I had done.

I opened the door, and saw him lying there, his mother and Peach sitting quietly at his side. They looked up at me when I entered and smiled slightly. I couldn't tell him in front of them. I supposed that it would have to wait.

I noticed that Finny was sleeping. He had an I.V. in his left arm, and a few tubes here and there.

"How is he?" I asked, my voice shaking.

Peach shrugged. "Tired, I guess."

Finny's mother sniffled into a handkerchief, with her name embroidered into it. "My poor, sweet Finny! Why did this have to happen?"

My guilt began to throb again. Peach and Adora, which was Finny's mother's name, were so innocently unsuspecting of what had really happened. I didn't think I even knew for sure. My mind was like a puzzle with some of the pieces missing.

"What did the doctor say?" I wondered out loud.

"Not much," Adora said, blowing her nose.

Peach put her arm around Adora to comfort her. "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

"I hope so," was the shy response. "It seems like just yesterday when I was sending him off to school for the first time..."

I felt like such a heel. I had hurt Finny, Peach, and Adora all in one clumsy, reckless move. Had it been purposeful? Had I really meant to do it?

As if in response to my thoughts, Finny whimpered and moved around a bit before opening his eyes.

"OH, god, it hurts!" he cried. Finny had always been the kind of person who would whine and complain all day if he even had so much as a hangnail. This was ghastly. I could see a bit of whitish bone splintering through his kneecap. It looked probably worse than it felt. The urge to heave came again and I was forced to leave the room and rush into the restroom, where I relieved this notion, giving me very little comfort.

I returned to the room, only to be informed that I would have to leave again. Adora and Peach had already gone to the waiting room. I left and met up with Adora, Peach, and my mom.

"I just don't understand how something like this could have happened," Peach was saying. "Gene, you were there. What happened?"

My face had to have turned pale at that moment. "I don't really know," I lied. "I-I wasn't watching. I looked up and he was lying on the floor."

They seemed to be satisfied, as they came up with their own variations of how it could have happened.

It was then that Brinker came into the lobby. He didn't see us, because he went straight to the receptionist and asked her which room Finny was in. When she informed him that he would have to wait, he looked over at us and came to sit with us.

"Hey, everyone," he greeted, looking mostly at me. "Is it bad?"

"The doctor said that it was a messy break, but he should be oh-kay after surgery," Peach answered.

Brinker's head sunk into his shoulders a little. "I feel largely responsible for what happened," he admitted. "I mean, if I could've kept my balance a little better, then he may not have fallen..."

I stared at his eyes, full of remorse and regret. Regret that should have been flickering in my eyes. Remorse that should have been eating at my soul! Yet, I remained essentially silent. I couldn't bring myself to tell the truth after I had lied to them only moments before.

"Oh, it's not all your fault," Adora said, softly. "I'm sure Finny will understand." She turned to me. I swallowed hard. I knew she would convict me of something. "Gene, would you go to our house and pick up a few of Finny's clothes and things, please? I don't want to leave him.."

I couldn't respond, but my mom did for me. "We would be glad to. Come on, Gene, I'll let you drive if you like."

I was too nervous to drive, but didn't tell her. I drove down the interstate, a panicky, uneasy mess. If Finny had knocked me into Brinker, and broken my leg, he would have been apologizing as soon as I hit the floor. I was too much of a coward to do that, though. I could never be as brave as Phineas.

I screeched to a stop in front of Finny's house and hopped out of the car. My mom switched over to the driver's side. "I'm going to go call your dad. My cell phone's back at the hospital in my purse. I'll go find a payphone. Be ready to go when I come back." She pulled out of the driveway and into the street.

I felt sick. I wanted to vomit again, but didn't think that there would be enough in my stomach to. I slowly punched in the code and pondered inside. I barely made it up the stairs, before my stomach felt like it was sinking in again.

When I got into Finny's room, his cat ran out, sensing that its owner was missing, and an unfamiliar person was in his place. As soon as I stepped into Finny's unoccupied bedroom, it was as if all the pain and guilt I had been feeling was lifted. Something about the memories of times we had had in that room dug me out of the dirt of shame that I was buried in.

I almost lost myself in the feelings the room brought to me. After marveling at the different aspects of it, I realized that there was, indeed a reason for me to be there. I saw a pair of pants hanging on the closet doorknob. I stuffed them into a gym bag, along with a pair of socks, and some boxer shorts. I scanned through the closet, looking for a comfortable t-shirt to go along with the pants. It was then that I spotted Finny's pink Tommy Girl shirt.

Before I knew what I was doing, I had put on the pink shirt, and was admiring myself in the mirror. I was slightly shocked to see that Finny was grinning back at me from the reflection. When had I become so much like him, and yet still so different?


	25. 25 Gene's visitation and guilt

I found a denim shirt and stuffed it into the gym bag, roughly. I all but tore away the pink shirt and flung it into the bottom of Finny's closet. Something about my reflection prompting me to think of Finny had jarred me into anger.

I heard my mom blowing the car horn outside, so I jogged out of the house at an intense pace. Whether I sped away quickly because of my mom or my conscience, I didn't know.

I handed the gym bag to Adora, without looking at her. "Thank-you," she said, softly.

"Anything happened?" my mom asked, as she sat down.

Peach and Adora both shook their heads. "Not since you left," Adora replied.

Brinker was intently watching a TV that was overhanging a snack machine. It was showing footage of a new terror attack, and some US forces in Iraq. It was also trying to convince me that duct tape could save my life in a chemical air attack. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that.

When it became too late for me to stay, around 3:00 a.m., I think, my mom suggested that we go home for the night. I was more than ready to go. Brinker had already left at 1:00 a.m.

I bid good-night to Adora and Peach, wishing Finny good health.

As soon as we were home, my dad greeted us with exhausted remorse. He sidestepped me and began slowly asking my mother derogative questions. I sidestepped him back and jogged toward my room. I had lost all desire to sleep, for this night and forevermore. The scenario at the skating rink kept playing in my head. Did Finny know? Did he remember that I had pushed him? Did he think it was an accident? Was it an accident? Was he telling of the crime I had committed at this moment? Had he let them all know what I had done? Could he ever forgive me? Would he forever shun me because of my clumsy move? Maybe he would think of it as just that: a clumsy move caused by my inability to skate. Even if he did think that, it wouldn't help my conscience at all. I would have to deal with that event lurking in the back of my mind for the rest of my life.

With all of this playing around in my head, one horrendous, black thought kept repeating itself to me: I had school first thing the next morning.

When I arrived at school, I found that the main topic on everyone's tongue was Finny. They had all heard about it from a friend of a friend of a friend. I heard no one talking about me, and if they were, I heard nothing of it. In my mind's eye, they all knew my secret, they knew the burden I was sharing with no one, except Brinker, who wasn't at all to blame. His burden was not near as heavy as mine. I was the cause of Phineas's pain, and Brinker's guilt. Someone had to have known. Someone just had to have had a theory that involved myself. Finny himself had probably conjectured that it was me.

I couldn't pay attention in any class. Everyone kept talking about it. There was no possible way for me to get it out of my mind.

The day went by painfully quick. It surprised me in that way. I had thought the night before that it would drag on like most school days. Instead, it decided to give me a break and dealt me a kind hand of cards.

I had found that if you'd give fate a little leverage, it would learn to like you a little bit. If you shunned it, or disliked it, it might attempt to cheat you and hand you a hand full of bad cards. It might even make an attempt to kill your fragile mind with bouts of trickery and deception. Fate was at times a cruel and evil goddess, even if you were nice to Her.

Finny never had to worry about Fate. She seemed to like him very well, as if they were old pals or something. Maybe they were. Whatever the reason was, Finny was always a step ahead of Her, throwing Her a wild card when he felt like it. Like the time he totaled his little blue Volkswagen beetle, but came out of it without a scratch. Fate surely must have been surprised at that development.

My mom picked me up from school that day. I saw her waiting for me in her minivan outside the school. I threw my bag into the backseat and hopped in the front beside her.

"Adora called," she mentioned offhandedly, yet with a note of utmost seriousness. I looked at her intensely with a look of interest. "She said that Finny went into surgery, and came out just fine," she went on. "He feels a lot better, by the way Adora talked about him."

My eyes grew large. It was as if a great boulder had been lifted from my shoulders. "Can we go see him, please?" Begging was no longer beneath me. I wanted to see Finny so that I could apologize for what I had done to him.

My mom sighed. "We can," she told me. "But, Adora mentioned something that the doctor said." I leaned somewhat closer. "The doctor was very positive about Finny being able to walk again..." She paused and stifled a cough. "But, he may never play any sports again."

And, then the world splintered and crashed down all around me. I felt hot tears stinging my eyes and cheeks as they rolled off onto my sweatshirt.

My mom must have noticed them. "Now, don't do that. You have to have a positive attitude if you're going to be around him, Gene. The last thing he needs is for you to be crying all over him. Now, stop that."

I blew my nose on my handkerchief and sniffled once or twice. "But, why?" I asked hoarsely.


	26. 26 Finny's opportunity

"Why wouldn't he be able to play sports? Shouldn't it just go back into place? They should be able to fix it, right? If the bones are still there, then-"

"And if you keep talking about it around him," she broke in harshly, "you'll upset him! You have to be positive! Be optimistic! Don't talk about these kinds of things," she said, in a slower tone. "Talk about...other things. But, not sports, if you can avoid it. Talk about the normal things that you usually talk about. Oh-kay?"

I nodded, in solemn agreement, wiping a lingering tear from my face.

We arrived at the hospital much too early for my liking. I would have liked to have at least ten more minutes to think of how I would handle the situation. Before I was fully ready, I was staring down the door to his room. He was still in Room B14. Peach and Adora had gone home to rest, which meant Finny wasn't critical or anything. My mom waited for me in the waiting room, as she usually did. She didn't believe in visiting people in the hospital. She would allow me to, but thought superstitiously that it brought bad luck. To the invalid, or to herself, I don't know.

At any rate, Finny and I would be alone.

I creaked open the door, half-heartedly gazing around at the pictures on the walls inside the room. My eyes slowly trailed over to Phineas. He was propped against the back of the bed on a pillow, his leg resting in a cast that was hanging over the bed a little. His gaze turned to me, and he smiled. "Hi, Gene. What's up?"

I didn't know what to say at first. Was he for real? Was he really not mad at me? Maybe he just didn't remember. Or, maybe he had something more cynical in mind. Finally, I managed to say, "How are you feeling?"

He rolled his eyes, as if he had heard that question twenty times already that day, which he probably had. "Better than you, I'd think. You're as white as a ghost! You look like you've just seen one, too. What's the matter with you?"

His voice didn't sound pained, or stressed, or tired or anything of the sort. He sounded just like he always did: chipper, happy, energetic, like he could hop out of bed and do jumping jacks or something.

"Nothing," I answered after a pause. "Nothing's the matter. Why do you ask?"

"You look tired, is all," he told me, shrugging. "Hard day at school?"

Before I could answer, the door was opened and a doctor came in. "How are you doing, Phineas?" he asked, without looking up from a clipboard. "Has someone been in to see you today?"

"But, of course," Finny responded, in his charismatic way, as if he and the doctor were old college friends.

The doctor turned to me and shook my hand. "Hello, I'm Dr. Jones. Are you family?"

"No," I replied, "just a friend."

"Well, I may as well tell you this too," Dr. Jones said, offhandedly. "Finny is going to be wearing that cast for quite some time, and I don't want him straining it or moving around too much at all. You and every else are going to have to make sure you keep him as comfortable as possible. He can't be expected to be healed automatically, you know." He paused and gave me a serious look. "Until his leg is completely healed and out of that cast, you will have to take care of him." He nodded, wrote something more on his clipboard, and then he left the room.

I grew slightly paler. Did that doctor know what he was doing? Giving this opportunity to Finny was like telling him that he was going to have his own team of personal servants for six weeks. I could already see Finny's face lightening up and growing delighted.

"I'm sure he's not serious," I said, quickly.

Finny gave me an odd look. I could see the wheels in his head turning already. His face suddenly grew tight, and he wailed in pain, grasping at his leg. "OHHHHHHHHHHHHH! The sheer and utter PAAAAAIIIIN!"

Not knowing whether I bought his act or not, I rushed over. "What is it?" I cried.

"My LEEEEEEG, you moron, is in PAAAAAIIN!" he exclaimed, giving me a sideways glance.

"Do I need to call the nurse?" I shrieked, beginning to get a little worried. Finny did tend to get carried away at times, but my conscience could get carried away worse than him any day.

"NOO!" he burst out. "I-I mean," he corrected himself, "no, no, I'll be all right. I just..I just need..."

I leaned closer. "You need...?"

"Chocolate ice cream," he said, barely above a whisper.

I stared at him. "Goodbye, Finny. I'll see you at school in a week."

He shifted in bed. "Oh-kay. Good----OHHH-bye, Gene...don't-AAAAAHH-worry about me. I'll be just----EEEEE-fine..."

I quickly turned around. "Finny-I'm not sure if you're ready for me to leave you yet. I mean, the doctor did want me to take care of you until your leg was fully healed-"

"No," he argued, "go ahead...I'm sure I'll-----OOOOOH-manage all right..."

"That's it!" I declared. "I'm staying here with you and that's final. And, until your leg is out of that cast, I'll tend to your needs."

"When you say needs," he implied, "do you mean every whim and desire?"

I sighed. "Yes."

"Yay!" he cried in sheer happiness.

(What have I done?) I asked myself.


	27. 27 Gene's bumbling burns Finny up

Finny: A special thanks to my new beta reader, slinkster sunshine! Be sure to read her fic, "The Sun In His Pocket"!

"Well," he began, in a contemplating and eerie tone, "the first thing I really need is a big bowl of ice cream."

"Ice cream?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Yes," he confirmed. "Chocolate ice cream."

"How will that help with your leg?" I inquired, slightly annoyed. "I wasn't planning on becoming your personal slave."

I remembered a time when Finny had sprained his shoulder during a basketball game. I had to carry all of his books, and write out all his assignments, for three weeks straight. He tended to take advantage of this kind of situation, and I didn't want to go through it again. If it was possible for me to make a complete fool out of myself, and keep both of us satisfied, Finny knew exactly how to do it.

"Well then," he said softly. "I guess I don't really…..need it.." He coughed dramatically, and then, after making sure I was watching, he grasped his leg in agony. "OOOOHHHH the PAIN!"

So I did the only thing I could do in my situation: I went down to the cafeteria and got him chocolate ice cream with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and almonds sprinkled on top. I paid for it, and then proceeded to carry it all the way back up to his room. When I returned, he was laughing at something on the TV.

"What's so funny?" I wondered, handing him the ice cream.

"I'm spying on the people in the lobby," he explained, wiping a tear from his cheek.

I watched as several people walked by on the screen, much to Phineas' glee. I shook my head at him. "You're a freak, Finny."

He spooned some of the ice cream into his mouth, then nodded at me.

I sank down beside him on the bed, rather roughly, as it was hard to get up on such a high bed. He uttered something incoherent. I ignored it. Finny was always making some kind of noise.

When he began to move around and rattle the bed, I turned to look at him. His face was bright red, cheeks full of ice cream, and he was frantically waving his arms at me.

"What ARE you doing?" I asked him, fearing for his sanity.

He suddenly swallowed everything that was in his mouth and began to shout.

"OW! OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW! My leg hurts! For REAL!"

It was then that I noticed that I was sitting on his broken leg. I jumped to my feet in alarm, knocking the ice cream into Finny's lap. He looked at me in horror.

"Oh Finny, I'm so sor - "

"It's cold!" He wailed.

"I'll get something!" I reassured him. I spotted a smoking coffeepot on the nearby counter. Without thinking, I grabbed it and poured the contents onto Finny's lap.

"NOOO, you fool!" he yelled. "OWWWW!"

I whacked myself in the head. "I'm so, so sorry! Want me to call the nurse?"

"As long as she's not YOU!"

I punched the little red button embedded in the wall above his head. Moments later, an attractive young nurse rushed into the room. "What's going on?" She demanded, glancing at Finny, who was busy fanning his crotch.

"Help me!" He exclaimed.

She stared at him, bewildered, and ran off to get help from another nurse.

I watched Finny as he stopped fanning himself, and turned to glare at me. "I hate you," he said, with an indignation that told me everything he had just said was false.


	28. 28 Finny's return to school

Soon, a nurse had calmed Finny. He was no longer hot, or cold, and his leg was feeling better thanks to a generous amount of painkillers.

"This wouldn't have happened," I said, matter-of-factly, "if you hadn't suddenly gotten a craving for ice cream."

"Oh, you know what? Fine," he spat, jokingly. "Deny me the one joy I might be able to take pleasure in. Refuse to give me the one thing I have left in life to look forward to..."

"Oh, please," I growled. "Painkillers make you cranky or something..."

"No, they make me horny, baby!" he cried, swinging a little surgical cap around on his finger.

I nearly fell over. Could there be a hidden meaning to what he had said? Wasn't he always saying suggestive and odd things like this...I couldn't remember.

I shrugged it off and sat down in a chair beside his bed. "Lobby channel, anyone?" I asked, casually.

"Yeah! Time to find me some hunnies!" he yelled, excitedly. "Say, Gene, if I see any, can I get you to go bring 'em up to my room? Huh?"

I laughed. "Sure."

Finny returned to school a week later. The doctor said that he would do better if he were able to exercise (both his body and his mind). Surprisingly, Phineas had no protests whatsoever. He seemed almost eager to go back to school and climb up the steep hill from the parking lot to the building. Of course, since he would no longer be parking in the parking lot (or anywhere else) it wouldn't be that much of a challenge.

Everyone at school was more than willing to have Finny back at school. Hardly anyone knew exactly his condition, and what they did know, they found out from either Brinker or from me. What they didn't know, they made up.

It didn't matter. I didn't care. I was just happy to know that Finny would be well enough to return and do normal things again. Maybe my guilt would be given a rest if he could act and function normally.

That morning, a Monday, my dad and I were going to pick him up to go to school. I was nervous when we pulled into his driveway. Instead of blowing the horn, my dad suggested that I go up to the door and see if he was ready.

I had barely gotten out of the car when the door opened and Finny hobbled out, waving goodbye to his mom.

I looked over at my dad, who shrugged. I left the door open, and climbed into the backseat of the car.

"Good morning, Mr. Forrester," Finny greeted, cheerfully. Sliding his crutches beside me in the backseat, he slowly slipped into the car, and shut the door. "How's it going?"

"Just fine," my dad replied, putting the car into reverse. "How's your leg?"

"Oh..." Finny seemed to be examining his bound leg. "I guess it's as good as it can be. This cast itches like crazy!" he complained.

"I heard that they do," Dad said, nonchalantly. "So, ready for school again?"

"What?" Finny wailed, awkwardly. "Is THAT where you're taking me? Oh, NOOO!"

I laughed. "Yes, you shall be a prisoner once again."

"Say it ain't so," he whined, then began to laugh himself. "I can't wait to see the look on Mr. Riddel's face when he sees that I can't run track anymore."

"Yeah, and I bet that you'll be grabbing everyone's attention for quite a while, huh?" I asked, snidely.

"But, of course," he responded, turning around and grinning at me.

Before anything else could be said, my dad pulled into the school parking lot, as close as he could get to the main entrance.

"Oh-kay, last stop, everybody off," he said, poorly imitating a conductor's voice. "I hope both of you will be all right..." He directed the last sentence toward Phineas.

Finny, not wanting to be underestimated, said, "Yeah, Gene. I mean, you can't live so recklessly, man."

I rolled my eyes, making him laugh in his upbeat, non-caring way. He slowly pushed himself out of the car, supported by holding onto it with both hands, as he stood up on one shaky leg. I quickly got out too, handing him his crutches and grabbing all of our books.

"Bye, Dad," I said, waving.

"See you this afternoon!" my dad exclaimed, driving away.

"You gonna make it?" I wondered, as Finny looked at something in the distance, his eyes looking weary.

"Well...that depends..." he muttered.

"On--?"

"If we can avoid that crazy girl over there," he sighed.

I looked and saw the one person I did not want to see. Amelia.


	29. 29 Finny Gene and Leper in a bush

Amelia Raymond. She had the biggest crush on Finny in his long history of crushes. She was very loud and very clingy. She should have been dating Ollie.

Finny didn't seem to take any interest in her whatsoever. She was rather plain-looking and a little chubby. She sometimes wore black thick-rimmed glasses to cover her already-dull eyes. Her voice was very shrill when she talked and even worse when she yelled. Her hair was a very dull brown. I personally have nothing against brunettes; Amelia's hair was almost dirt- colored.

The moment Finny noticed her, his face turned blue with fear. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into a bush. He meant to stoop down, but lost his balance and pulled me on top of him.

I froze. My eyes met his, and we just stared at each other in surprise. Suddenly, Phineas' eyes brimmed with tears, and I raised an eyebrow, confusedly.

"Gene," he whispered, "you're on my leg."

I released my breath slowly and rolled off of him. He turned to me and was about to say something when suddenly the bushes above us began to rustle. We froze in terror.

"It's an ambush," Finny whispered.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Ambush Amelia."

A hand came through the bushes and felt around on the ground between us. I held my breath. The hand grabbed Finny's ear and tried to pull him out of the bush.

"OW!" Finny cried. "I surrender!"

Leper's face quickly shot through the bush to see what was going on. He quickly let go of Finny's ear and blushed. "I'm sorry! I dropped my glasses in these bushes and I was just trying to find them! I didn't mean to pull your ear or anything..."

Finny rubbed his ear to relieve the pain. "Ah, don't sweat it," he assured Leper. "Simple mistake..."

"So, what are you guys doing in this bush anyway?" Leper wondered, raising an eyebrow, suspiciously.

I waited for Finny to answer. He was, after all, the one who had pulled me into the bush. But, Phineas was silent.  
Suddenly, he grabbed Leper by the neck of his shirt and pulled him into the bush between us.

"Be still and be quiet," Finny advised. "You never know...the bushes have ears..."

"Ohhhh-kay," our light-skinned classmate said, making a strange expression. He looked at me and I shrugged.

Finny was busy glancing out of a sunlight-embraced hole in the bush. "She's coming this way!" he hissed. "Don't make any sound at all!"

Leper nodded in silent agreement, while I simply rolled my eyes at my best friend. I could hear the sound of high heel shoes tapping on the sidewalk nearby. All three of us suddenly froze. Leper closed his eyes tightly, and I clenched my teeth. Finny's eyes widened fiercely as he saw legs moving by the bush. The pair of legs paused beside our hideout, then continued on. The three of us released our breath slowly, feeling very relieved.

Finny poked his head out of the shrub, and waved to us that it was safe.

I stood up, and, after looking around carefully, helped Finny to his feet. Leper shakily stood behind us, muttering something about getting to class on time, and left.

I grabbed Finny's abandoned crutches and handed them to him. He placed them under his arms and made his way back to the sidewalk, carelessly.

"That was a close one," he said, alleviated. "Shall we get to class?"

"Sure," I answered, raising an eyebrow. "Never thought I'd hear you say that..."

As soon as we entered our art class, Finny was bombarded with questions from everyone in the classroom, including Ms. Stephen. Finny reacted to the questions as he usually reacted to everything.

"It was horrible!" he exclaimed. "My bloody, mangled body and I crawled through the living room trying to get to the man who was trying to murder my Aunt Margaret!"

And, not surprisingly, everyone believed every word of it.


	30. 30 Finny needs help

Essentially, everyone calmed down as far as asking questions of Phineas. His stories grew wilder as the day went on. I was given a pass that allowed me to carry his books to all his classes for him.

He, of course, was eating up all of the attention he received.

The following day was Tuesday. I avoided the topic of skating at all costs. I wasn't about to send him into a pity party, even if it would be a private one.

That afternoon, I walked him home, carrying many more of his books than he actually needed.

I bade him farewell and continued on to my house. About halfway, I felt a little trickle of something under my nose and wiped it away. It gave me a chance to smell the scent of school that still lingered on my hand.

It always brought me back: the rush, the vibe, the language of a bunch of us kids pushing around to get to the next class. I knew that someday I would miss it when I had lost it.

Around five "preguntas" of my Spanish homework, my phone rang. I sighed, as I thought to myself, _Why do I have so many interruptions?  
_  
"Hello?" I answered, quite irritated.

"Gene?" Finny demanded on the other end. His voice sounded so urgent that I snapped to attention. "Gene, you've got to come over here! And hurry!"

"I'm comin'," I assured him, as I hung up the phone. I raced toward his house, my mind concocting horrible images of what awaited me.

I only hoped I wouldn't be too late.


	31. 31 My little Pinnochio

Street lights came on almost simultaneously with my passing them. Finny had sounded frightened over the phone, and urgent. Whatever he needed, it was bound to be important.

I raced up the steps in front of his house, and punched in the access code so quickly that I made a mistake the first time and had to enter it again.

Without a word to his mother, who was God-knows-where, I stormed up Phineas' flight of stairs leading to his bedroom. "Don't worry!" I called to him, rounding the corner. "I'm coming, Finny!"

I nearly broke the door off of its hinges, trying to get it open. It slammed into the wall when I slung it open. Finny lay on the bed, his broken leg propped up on a couple of pillows. He gave an incredulous look to my weathered and out-of-breath state while I stood before him panting, and demanding what I could do for him.

Finally, he regained his usual composure. "Gene, buddy! I'm glad you're here!" he exclaimed, clasping his hands together, smiling. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind grabbin' me a soda from the fridge?"

I was ready to strangle him, but settled for collapsing on the floor beside his bed. "Do you mean to tell me," I said, slowly, "that you called me up, made me run all the way down to your house, scared me half to death--all for a freakin' soda?"

"Well, I tried paging Mom, but she must've turned her beeper off or something because--" he started to say.

"No, Phineas," I said, sternly. "You just had the perverted idea to make me run all this way, and neglect my homework just for your entertainment. If you plan on doing this kind of crap, then I strongly suggest you find a new buddy to play puppeteer with, because I WILL NOT be your puppet!"

He looked like he might giggle.

I probably looked ridiculously serious, because I was trying very hard to maintain my grown-up, in-charge facade, while staring at the growing smile on his face.

"If you say so, Gene, my little Pinocchio," he said with a chuckle.

I couldn't stop the smile from crossing my face. I sighed. "Finny, what are we going to do with you?"

He winked at me. "I think the question is, what would you do without me?"


	32. 32 Finny and the Pussycats

Phineas leaned to the side and propped himself up on his elbows. He looked so darn cute that I felt myself becoming more and more willing to comply with anything he might ask me. I knew, of course, that he was going to ask me to do something because of a strange look he had in his eye.

Then, as he often did, he surprised me. "Gene, I think it's about time that you and I started up a band," he said, not at all insinuating that this was the most ridiculous thing he could have ever said.

It was all I could do to not shake my head and say, "What?" Instead, I politely rubbed my chin with my hand as if I was thinking this over and somehow believing that we would go through with it. I said, "Okay….."

"You will, of course, have to learn how to play guitar," he was rambling. "And we'll have to get Brinker to learn to play bass. I was thinking you, Leper, and I could be the main singers, since our voices are the most alike. Probably could get Ollie to play the keyboard or something…..oh, and I want to play the drums."

I stared blankly.

"I've already written a few songs to get us started," he mentioned, magically pulling sheets of paper out from in between his pillows. He handed them to me and I thumbed through them. Some of them seemed to have potential of actually becoming real songs. "I want you to help me edit them to make more sense, of course," he added.

"How long have you been working on this?" I wondered.

"What? That song?" he asked about the paper I had on top. Somehow, I had shaken him out of his band world.

"No, I mean the whole idea. The band in general. How long have you been working on this notion?" I asked, in awe at the unrestricted effort he had put forth without my help or even my knowledge.

"Ever since I broke my leg," he whispered.

Now, it was my turn to be shaken out of band world. This was the first definite acknowledgement Finny had given his leg, to say that it was broken. He had complained of it hurting numerous, painful times before, but never had he even alluded that it was damaged. The most disturbing reference, to me, however, was that he said, "I broke my leg." It was like he was saying that he had personally sat down with the whim to intentionally break it, like a toy that he despised and wanted to be rid of.

Not knowing any easier way to get past the subject, I suddenly blurted, "So, how often do you want to practice?"

His brief moment of gloom passed, and he said, "Every Tuesday, since we can't go to the rink anymore, and possibly weekends."

Thankfully, I wouldn't be losing too much study time on that deal. "Sounds good," I agreed.

"Good," Finny remarked, fully knowing that even if I didn't agree, he would still convince me to. "Now," he said, sitting up and reaching for his crutches, "let's go pick out a guitar for you, shall we?"


	33. 33 Finny goes dark

Since Finny appeared to be serious and it didn't appear that I would be able to study any this night, I helped him to his feet. By the grace of God, somewhere between him sitting and standing, he lost his balance and fell face-first into my shoulder. For the briefest of blissful moments, his hair brushed my cheek and tickled my nose. I inhaled deeply, taking in every glorious aroma: cotton, kiwi shampoo, some kind of effeminate cologne, breath mints, tomato sauce, apples.

Before I could stop him, Phineas had righted himself and stood at half-mast with his crutches.

Wanting just the smallest of contacts to satisfy my urge, I adjusted his earring and told him that it was caught in his hair.

We found plenty of guitars and drum kits to suit Finny's interest, but didn't take anything home with us that day.

--

The next morning, my dad and I once again ventured to Finny's house to pick him up for school. When Finny didn't come right out, I decided to go inside and get him.

"Good morning," I said to Adora, who was sitting on the sofa in her bathrobe.

"Hi, Gene!" she replied enthusiastically. "Finny's upstairs!"

I thanked her, even though I had already surmised this. I climbed up the stairs just as I had done a thousand times, willing to believe that Finny had gotten back into his old routine of sleeping in and caring less about school than he should have.

I knocked on his door lightly, and then turned the doorknob. The door was harder to push open than usual. I guessed that it was due to him having too much of his "stuff" migrate behind the door. When I had gotten halfway through the door, I could see the bed. Phineas was not in it. I turned my head around the corner and was astonished, once again by my best friend.

"Morning, Genny," he greeted me, a wide grin across his face. He was fully dressed for school, which was a shock in itself. But the real eye-opener was that his hair was no longer blue. It had transformed overnight to a black that was darker than twilight. It was so dark that it seemed like a mirror, being so shiny.

My mouth agape, I waited for an explanation that I didn't get right away.

"Ready for school?" he wondered.


	34. 34 Sinking into my darkest fears

I couldn't answer him. I was astounded by the sudden drastic change he had made. Black hair made him look suddenly very pale and sick.

"What did you do?" I demanded, abruptly. "And why? What possessed you?" I wasn't quite sure if I was shocked or angry. I suddenly wished that he would just go back to normal.

"Well, I did it for the band," he explained, simply. "I like the idea of us being a gothy band." He paused to read my expression, which must have been frightened, because he quickly added, "You don't have to dye your hair if you don't want to. You just have to use a lot of straightener. Then you can be our emo guy! But, you know what that means, don't you?"

"What?" I asked, shaking my head in frustration.

"We'll have to get an emo girl for balance," he answered, as if this was common knowledge. "I'm sure Peach will agree."

_Oh, great_, I thought. _Another reason for Peach to hang around. _"Whatever," I said, harshly. "Let's just go."

He followed me almost meekly. I could tell that he really wanted me to go along with his ideas, and was trying to earn brownie points by not making a scene.

I could read him now almost perfectly.

--

We rode mostly in silence on the way to school. Phineas spoke to my dad every now and then to make polite conversation. I figured that Finny wouldn't say much to me until I complimented his band somehow. But I wasn't about to give in.

Neither was he.

As soon as my dad had dropped us off and gotten out of the parking lot, Finny started up again. "I thought of a great name!" he exclaimed. I could almost see the stars in his eyes.

"For what?" I wondered out of meanness. I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"The band, Gene, focus!" he said jokingly. "We'll call ourselves the Eclectics!"

_Eclectic_, I thought. _Sounds more like Phineas than any of the rest of us._

This was going to be all about Finny, just like everything else we did.

Then, he bewildered me once again by showing me one of his songs. "This one is going to be your solo song," he explained. "I'll show you how it goes."

As we hobbled up the hill, I held the paper while Phineas sang to me. And, I realized how perfect his voice was.

"Sinking into my darkest fears,

Into the night, the demon's tears,

Chasing me down my faith prevails,

Because of your chase my soul's impaled.

Waiting—hoping that your love wasn't meant for me.

Blindness will always make it easier to see.

Love is the last thing I hope for.

Why do you long for my hand?

I sicken at these tales of lore,

Sprinkled around like grains of sand."

By the time he had finished, he was out of breath and we had gotten to the art room. "What do you think?" he

panted.

"Beautiful," I said simply, though I didn't make the distinction that I was talking about him and not just the song.


	35. 35 Finny's hype

Phineas hyped up the band all day at school. About noon, he had half of the school body begging to be a member or a roadie or a sound technician or a publicist. Finny had that sort of hold over people like hypnotism.

As could be expected, several girls ran their fingers through Phineas' silky black hair. I wished that I could do the same.

--

That night, in the middle of my history essays, I received a call from Finny.

"Hey, dude!" he exclaimed. I had never heard him use that phrase before. "You have to come over here! I have something awesome to show you!"

Begrudgingly, I consented and arrived at his house within thirty minutes; I made sure to complete my homework before I left.

I didn't linger in the living room or the staircase. I didn't even knock on his door. I simply flowed inside and stared at his face for any sign of emotion. I saw ecstasy.

He motioned to his right next to the bed at a guitar and a drum kit.

"Oh, my god, Finny!" I exclaimed. I immediately went over and picked up the guitar. It was partially wood and partially a black plastic covering. I strummed the strings to get the feel of it. Then, I remembered something crucial:

"Finny, I don't know how to play the guitar."

He winked at me. "I'll teach you," he offered. "I don't know how to play the drums, but I figure I'll just randomly hit them until I can find a rhythm to go with the songs. Then, I'll show you how to play the guitar part of it. Leper's supposedly a whiz on piano. Keyboard shouldn't be that much different. I'm not sure if Brinker can play bass, but he can learn, right? We can all sing. Everyone can sing." He said this with his natural charisma. It made me want to believe that we could actually have a band.

But I didn't.


	36. 36 The cast comes off

Over the next three weeks, Phineas taught me all he knew about guitars. We spent every night together practicing and learning. I despised all the studying time I was losing. On the other hand, I loved all of the time I was able to spend with Finny, working closely underneath his watchful eyes.

Before I knew it, I was capable of playing three of our seven songs. Fairly well, in fact. Phineas believed that we were ready to have our first concert. As it turned out, Brinker had been a hack on the bass, but a whiz at playing the keyboard. Leper had wanted to faint at the idea of singing or playing on stage, and decided that he would rather be our publicist. Ollie had auditioned and played the bass perfectly.

It was one day in the late winter that I visited Finny in his garage. We had turned it into our practice room since his mom didn't care about the noise we made. She even came in and danced to our beat a couple of times.

I entered the garage through the side door and spied Finny sitting at his drums, playing an out of control rhythm. I smiled amiably at him and picked up my guitar from its stand in the corner. Finny noticed me and jumped up from the drum kit. He ran over to me, flinging his arms around my shoulders and spinning in a counterclockwise turn around my body.

I was shocked that he was up and around moving like that (and that he had thrown his arms around me in such a way). Then, I was shocked once again. This time it was because I saw that the cast on his leg had been removed.

My eyes must have sparkled because Phineas gave me the biggest grin possible.

"Went to the doctor's office after school, and the doc says I'm completely healed," he said proudly. "He sawed it off and it made this eerie sound." He pointed behind him. "I got to keep the cast and everything!"

I stared at the dirty, white cast that had received a place of honor on the back wall of his garage. It still had the signatures of Finny's guy friends, myself, and all of his fangirls from school or wherever he happened to go.

I looked back at him, unable to look at the cast any longer. "I have more good news," he announced.


	37. 37 Gene strangles Finny

On the point of bursting from the prospect of what this "news" could be, I blurted, "What? WHAT! Tell me!"

He paused; he loved the suspense. "I got us our first gig!" he cried, flinging his arms up.

"Oh, my god! Are you serious!" I exclaimed. I probably acted a little more surprised than I felt, for his sake.

"And, to top it all off, it's a club right on the beach!" he informed me. As an afterthought, he added, "Jitterbugs is the name, I think..."

"When is it?" I wondered. I figured we'd have at least a month to practice and get everything perfect.

"It's Friday!" he said, cheerily.

I blinked. And then I blinked again. And then I think I may have scratched my head or my back or something.

"Friday?" I repeated.

"Yup."

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" I strangled him. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME? WE'LL NEVER BE READY TO PERFORM BY FRIDAY!"

He slowly loosened my grip and stepped back. Smoothed his collar. "It's just a fifteen minute slot, Gene. Calm down." He punched my shoulder. "Surely we'll be able to play three songs by Friday."

I nodded (begrudgingly) in agreement.

So, we practiced only stopping for school, sleep, and food for three days. Brinker and Ollie were ecstatic when they found out that we had a job. It was paying $150, which, split five ways, was not much at all. A cut of the profits had to go to Leper, because, being the publicist, he had gotten us the job in the first place. Or at least that's what Phineas told me. I was pretty sore that he still got paid even though he wasn't putting in thirty hours of practice a week. But, I was too tired to think about it too much.

On Friday, we left school at noon and took Finny's convertible to the beach. I was pretty sure that part of the reason we were taking a job so far away was because Finny hadn't driven in six weeks and needed an excuse for a road trip. We were all living in North Carolina, and the club was on a beach in South Carolina. The drive took about six hours, with frequent stops. We saw the ocean at 6:20. We went on at 7:10. That gave us just enough time to grab a bite to eat and get into place.

Fortunately, we didn't have to cram all of our own instruments into Finny's cocker spaniel-sized trunk. The club already had a drum kit, guitar, and plenty of other instruments for the various bands to use. We were one band of six that were playing that night. We were opening for the other bigger bands, the biggest of which was called Phant.

We were performing three songs, all our favorites which Finny had written: "Be Free," on which Finny sang the first parts and we all sang the chorus of; Finny's solo song, "Not a Color"; and my solo song, "Blind."

We were sitting on pins and needles at 7:05. The club was just starting to fill up. The minutes flew by and before I knew it, I was standing on the makeshift stage, holding a foreign guitar. I was frantically going over all the keys and chords in my head.

The manager gave us a thumbs-up and Finny stepped up to the center of the stage. We were all wearing mini-mics pinned to our shirts. The manager, whose name was Jay Ed, told us that the stand-up mics had a tendency to be knocked over during the random acts of extreme dancing that some of the bands did.

Finny, full of confidence, addressed the buzzing crowd. "Are you guys ready to make some noise?" he yelled.

The majority of the crowd screamed out the affirmative.

"Then go crazy, because we are ECLECTIC!"

As the crowd "went crazy," Finny hopped behind the drums and got set to begin the first song.

My heart was pounding in my ears. I didn't think that I was nervous, but my body certainly did.

Brinker gave me a nod and Ollie waved that he was ready. We began the intro to our first song, and our first steps toward fame.

Finny sang beautifully. Or screamed beautifully, anyway. "Be Free" was our "Screaming" song, as dubbed by Phineas himself. I tried to breathe steadily as Finny belted out the lyrics.

"Why do you look at me

Like I'm your fantasy

All the others blindly stare

While I am painfully aware!

Cursed to rot inside this place

Never to show my face

Something tells me that you're wrong

This is not where I belong!"

Then, the four of us sang the chorus, which was a little slower, but still screamed.

"How can you sit there and say

This is the way

Things are meant to be

When will you be free!"

Finny started up again. The crowd was going crazy.

"Fading into darkness now

To anywhere you will allow

My faith has brought me this far

Or haven't you seen the scars!"

We yelled the chorus twice and the song was over.

Finny, sweating from his vocal efforts and his wild man routine on the drums, galloped back toward the cheering mob of soon-to-be fans.

"WOOO!" he yelled, receiving similar calls. "That was 'Be Free'!" He raised his arms up, working the crowd. "Now, here's our guitarist, Gene, with 'Blind'!" He jumped up, and his black shirt came up, exposing his back. I saw something questionable, but had to ignore it, because my three and a half minutes of fame were upon me.

I began the entrance to the song and then began to sing it. I was having an out-of-body experience. I was particularly out of control of my own functions, and all of that practice took over. In the blink of an eye, I was done, and the crowd was jumping and throbbing and screaming.

Finny, this time with a little less energy, jogged over to the audience again. "ALL RIGHT!" he cried. "Now, for our final song of the evening, we bring you 'Not a Color'!"

For this song, Leper had shakingly agreed to play the minor drum parts. Finny had wanted to have complete focus for this song because it was the "Gooshy" song.

I loved this song the most, because it was perfect for his voice.

"Whenever you feel like we're going too fast

Tell me, I'll stop and we'll look at the past

Don't hesitate to let me know how you feel

Tell me anytime; my heart won't be sealed.

The only thing I'm left to wonder about

Is whether or not you hold any doubt.

When we pray and talk together

I can't help thinking is this forever?

Because love is not a color you can touch.

But I don't like to think about it too much

Wherever this road can take you

You can bet that I'll be there too.

Listening to this wind

Telling you all of my sins

Something tells me that you're still here

Protecting me from evil, my dear."

He sang the chorus once more and was done. The crowd cheered for us and danced amongst themselves.

Finny spoke to them once more. "WOOO!" he screamed. "Thank you very much! We are Eclectic!" He paused for the screaming to subside. "You remember Gene on the guitar!" I played a short riff. "We've got Brinker on the keyboards!" Brink blew a peace sign kiss to the audience. "Ollie's the man on the bass!" Ollie strummed his chords once. "We had our awesome substitute drummer, Leper, who seems to have left the building. And I'm Finny!" This got the most screams. "Drum-playing extraordinaire! Drive carefully, guys, g'night!"

We carelessly made our way off stage through the twenty or so girls who wanted autographs (among other less feasible things).

I thought to myself, _We done good_.


	38. 38 A very awkward time

We crashed into the motel at 8:30, not even thinking about it being too early for bed. The room was only $45 for the night, so, not unexpectedly, we found that it barely had two rooms and a bathroom.

So, soon, we were faced with a strange problem: two beds and a couch. Five guys.

Almost immediately, Brinker volunteered to sleep in the car. He wasn't a fan of tight sleeping quarters. Though, I didn't see how the car would be a better alternative.

"I call the bed next to the kitchen!" Ollie announced, sliding his duffel bag onto his chosen bed. He clamored on into the bathroom muttering to himself about finding some toothpaste.

Leper took one look at Finny and me and simply said, "I'll take the couch."

I couldn't bring myself to look at Finny, thanking my lucky stars that the room was too dimly lit for him to see me blushing.

Phineas, however, never one to be seen as awkward, put an arm over my shoulder and said, in his best "buddy-buddy" voice, "Gene and I don't my sharing one bed! After all, we've been friends forever! Right?"

"Yup," I squeaked.

Finny practically dove into the bed, pulling the blankets down only after he had landed and bounced for a moment. He patted the spot next to him giddily. "I'm ready for my bedtime story!"

I laughed like I was a complete idiot, and then crept over to "my side" of the hard-as-a-brick bed. I kept my whole body stiff-as-a-board, bending only at my waist as I slid into awkwardness.

"G'night!" Finny said to everyone, and then turned on his side, facing the wall. I laid there, my arms at my sides, staring at the ceiling. My heart quickened everytime he moved even slightly. I sighed and tried to go to sleep.


	39. 39 Finny swims in the frozen ocean

--

NoV: ……oh my goodness…..am I continuing? Guess so! Enjoy!

--

Needless to say, I didn't sleep well. I kept glancing at the clock until eventually is read 4:17 a.m. Then I forced myself to close my eyes, forget my sleeping bedfellow, and sleep. Unfortunately, I was woken up a short three hours later.

Finny's face filled my whole span of sight. At first it seemed that he was just mouthing something, and I must have given him a very strange look. Then, when my ears started working, I heard, "---the sunrise, man! This is the only chance we'll ever have! Let's go!"

"Go where?" I moaned, pulling the blanket back over my head.

Finny peeled the covers off my face and said, "The ocean, kid! It's time to go swimming!"

"Phineas," I said flatly in an adult to child voice. "It's winter. Go out there and you will freeze."

"You're only seventeen once!" he exclaimed, throwing caution (and his shirt) to the wind. He opened the door to the room, paused only a moment in the frigid air and ran off toward the beach. Leaving the door wide open.

In the hotel room, under two blankets and a sheet, wearing pajama pants, two pairs of socks, an undershirt and a long-sleeve flannel, I was freezing. And my nutty friend was outside with no shirt, swimming in the ocean.

I shivered, feeling the cool breeze filtering into the room. Sighing I rose from the bed, slipping my feet into my worn tennis shoes on the floor. I glanced at Ollie in the next bed, burrowing underneath his blankets, then spied Leper, who was actually underneath the couch cushions, seeking warmth. I sniffed, feeling my nose was runny.

I made my way across the room, stepping over duffel bags and heavy coats. I was about to reach the door so I could go out and drag Phineas back inside when he appeared in the doorway, sandy and not a bit wet.

"Brrrrrrr!" he said, hugging himself for heat. "I stuck my big toe in the ocean and I thought it was going to come back a toe-sicle!" He passed by me, picking up his shirt and putting it back on without ever stopping in his march toward the bed. He slid underneath the blankets, headfirst, and when his dark-haired head popped out at the end of the bed, he smiled, looking like a kid in a sleeping bag. "Wake me when it's noon!" he said, going back to sleep.

--

NoV: Short, indeed, but there shall be more! I'm about to have 100 reviews for this stories, and when I do, I'm gonna be one happy NoV!


	40. 40 Gene is alone with his thoughts

--

NoV: Warning: strong content ahead. This chapter deals with heavy stuff, guys.

--

Phineas didn't make it until noon; he actually woke up at around ten-thirty. Unable to fall back asleep, I had been watching TV for the last three hours or so.

Finny stretched and cracked his knuckles. I informed him that Brinker, Leper and Ollie had ventured to the motel's game room.

"Why didn't you go with them?" he wondered, pulling on an extra pair of sweatpants.

I froze. I realized then that there was no feasible reason in the world for me to stay all alone in the room with my sleeping friend. I felt like I was breathing extraordinarily loudly. "I…um…didn't have any quarters," I said lamely.

Finny shrugged, but seemed to take this as a reasonable excuse.

I noticed that he was gathering his clothes together to form an outfit, so I wondered, "So, where are you going?" I hoped that my voice wasn't shaking. That I sounded as though I was just making conversation instead of genuinely wondering.

"Boardwalk," he answered. "You comin'?"

"Uh, no thanks," I replied, giving him a pathetic smile. I could hardly breathe just talking to him. I desperately needed some time alone to get my act together. This whole weekend was turning into a great disaster.

He shrugged and put on a toboggan. "See you in a few hours," he said.

"Hurry back," I instructed. Then panicking, I added, "I want to get home before midnight tonight."

He smiled, going out the door. "Okay," he said.

As soon as the door closed, I buried my face into my hands. Feeling like a complete moron and social failure, I headed for the shower. I dropped my clothing, feeling abnormally thin and weak. I turned on the shower, full on cold. When I stepped inside, two things hit me: the first was the shock of the freezing water, making me want to retract and jump out of the small space; the second was the heart-wrenching feeling that my hidden affections for my oldest friend, Phineas, were wrong. My whole life, I had been aware of the social stigma placed on such feelings. But, was it morally corrupt?

I had to stand outside of myself and look at how I had been living. Surely I couldn't help who I fell in love with….but was it still wrong.?

I raced from the shower, grabbing my pants from the floor and roughly pulling them on. I went into the main room of the hotel room, grateful to be alone. I searched through the drawers of the small desk for a book that I hadn't read since I was a child: the Bible. I found one and went immediately to the index, hoping to find a reference to homosexuality. No such luck. I flipped past the index and somehow found a few pages dealing with ethical questions. I read through them, skimmed over them, until I found one written by someone close to my age.

The entry read: "Timothy, 17. Indiana. 'Lately I've been having feelings of homosexuality. Am I going to go to hell? What should I do?'"

I gulped, worrying that the writer's answer was going to condemn me. What I read helped shape my life from then on out.

The response read: "First of all, you are not going to hell if you are saved. Many young people experience these same feelings as they are entering adulthood. But just as a married person shouldn't give in to temptations of adultery, you must not give into temptations of homosexuality."

I set the Bible down on the table. I felt as though everything had been put into a tangible perspective for me. All my months of worrying, headaches, desires could finally be put to rest. Now that I had identified my problem, I knew that I could overcome it. My temptations would be no match for my newfound willpower.

Just as I was about to return to my shower with a ridiculous grin on my face, the door to the room burst open with such force that I worried it might come off the hinges. Phineas came into the room with such grace and speed that he appeared to be coming in on his roller skates. I was reminded of a time when I complaining about his superior skating skills. We had been walking up a hill to school and at about the same time he had tripped over a crack in the sidewalk, tumbling over into a bush. As I helped him out of the shrubbery, he had said, with a weird smile, "I can skate; you can walk."

As he made his way toward the center of the room, I smiled inwardly. I couldn't wait to have my first conversation in months with him, without my lusty feelings clouding my head. "What'd you forget?" I wondered, glad that I didn't have to force myself to sound casual.

He sat down on the bed next to me, and with eyes that wiggled and pierced down into my soul, said, "I love you, Gene."

Shit.

--

NoV: Please, please nobody be offended by this! I do not intend this to be prejudiced at all. I am probably the most open person you will ever meet, so please do not take this chapter as my personal opinion on the subject. I got the question and response from an actual Bible, and this chapter is very important to my plot. Otherwise, hope you enjoyed, and look for the next chapter very very soon!


	41. 41 The accident

--

As if he hadn't already said enough to render me speechless and utterly flabbergasted, Phineas went on. "Ever since that day when I broke the school weightlifting record and you spotted me…..I've had feelings for you. I tried to ignore them and pretend that I didn't feel anything, but……" He sighed and looked down at the floor. "I thought I would forget about it if I started getting interested in a girl. But when I went out with Peach, all I could think about was you." He looked back at me. "I just couldn't keep it all to myself anymore."

In all the time I had known him, I had never seen him so serious. He had lain his heart out in front of me, as hapless as you please. His eyes were watering, and his hands were shaking and his nose was red. So I did the most mature and thought-out thing I could do.

I laughed in his face. Not briefly either. I laughed for at least a good minute. I stopped when I looked at his face. A little, hurt tear had fallen down his cheek.

"I'm sorry," I began.

He sighed and stood up from the bed. "I should have known you wouldn't show any sensitivity," he said, turning away from me.

"No, no!" I argued, standing up beside him. I tried to get him to look at me. "You just caught me off guard, that's all." I put my hand on his shoulder. "I'm really glad you told me, because—" The door opening cut me off.

Finny and I looked to the doorway to see Leper, Brinker and Ollie standing there somberly. They stared at us with an expression of intensity across all their faces.

I waved, trying to lighten the mood. "Uh, hey guys," I said. "How was the arcade?"

Brinker stepped forward. "Never mind that," he snapped. "We all need to put something to rest."

Phineas, who had lost his serious mood, raised his eyebrow and wondered, "Okay, what's with the creepy, we-three-have-lost-our-minds thing?"

"Sit down," Brinker ordered both of us.

I was getting worried, but sat down on the bed anyway. Finny sat down next to me, but just to humor Brinker.

Brinker closed the door and then began to pace the room. Ollie and Leper stood quietly just inside the door.

When Brinker came to a stop next to the bed, he placed a hand thoughtfully on his face and said, "We are all aware of what happened three months ago at the skating rink." He paused and looked directly at Phineas and myself. "But there is some confusion as to _how_ it happened." He nodded to Leper, who came to stand next to him.

My heart was pounding in my ears. I refused to believe that this was happening. Even though I had been too wrapped up in my emotions to realize it, the fact was that it was still my fault that Finny's leg had been broken. Wasn't it? I guess I thought that since it had healed, we could move on and forget about it. My breathing was audible. I knew that Finny and probably Brinker could hear it.

"Leper," Brinker calmly asked, "did you see what happened that night? Were you there?"

"I did and I was," Leper replied simply.

Ollie remained silent by the door, as if guarding it.

"What happened?" Brinker prompted.

Leper looked at the ceiling, in deep thought. "I was sitting in the food court. I was waiting for Finny because he said he was going to induct me into his club. There was a little boy sitting at the table across from me eating a plate of nachos. 'Someday' by Nickelback was playing in the rink—"

"Leper, we don't need to know every detail," Brinker interrupted, exasperated. "Just tell us about Finny. What happened that made him break his leg?"

"Well—" Leper began.

"Did he slip?" Brinker prompted.

"Not exactly," Leper replied.

"Then, what?"

"Phineas was skating…..and Gene was a little behind him," Leper recalled. "Brinker, you were up ahead of them a little. Then, Finny slowed down so that he was even with Gene. He looked away and they bumped together."

"By accident?" Brinker demanded.

"No," Leper admitted. "No, one of them shifted and ran into the other one."

Phineas lost his cocky smile. He stared at me, down into my soul.

"Who ran into whom?" Brinker pressed.

Leper, having noticed the betrayal Phineas felt, whispered, "I….I don't know." He looked down at the floor.

Finny, who looked at me as though I had committed treason, stood up and started to leave the room.

Brinker, seeing this, made an attempt to stop him by saying, "Finny, wait! You have to stay so we can get all the facts!"

Finny turned around and stared at Brinker. Then, with the most articulate and emotional voice I have ever heard, he said, "Brinker, you get your facts. You get every single fact in the world. I don't care. This crap isn't worth it."

He turned around, sidestepped Ollie and left, slamming the door shut behind him.

Brinker looked at me and coldly said, "Look what you've done. He's been limping, you know. He won't let us see it, but he's been limping."

I felt tears stinging my eyes. Before I knew what I was doing, I jumped up from the bed and ran after my best friend. My best friend and my soul mate. I didn't care if he hated me. I still wanted to be with him and make things better.

I caught up to him in front of the motel. He was cranking up his car and rolling the top back.

I reached his side before he could shift into reverse. "Finny, wait!" I pleaded.

"For what, Gene?" he demanded. "So you can hide the truth from me some more?"

"I wanted to tell you," I tried to explain.

"Then, why didn't you?" he yelled.

"I…..don't know," I weakly replied.

"Then I don't know why we're friends," was the last thing he said before peeling out of the parking lot.

I watched him as he drove away. The sun was high in the sky with only a few perfect, fluffy clouds. I watched his little red car speed off toward the horizon. Just as I was about to turn away, the unthinkable happened. As Finny was about to go past the second street over from the hotel, a junky, dark blue car came out of nowhere. Phineas swerved to avoid it, but lost control of his car. He veered into a ditch, where his car flipped over. I didn't know it, but I was running toward the accident.

I reached Phineas' upended car just as smoke began to rise from the engine. "Finny!" I yelled. I stooped next to the driver's side to see what had become of him. My eyes widened and I gasped in horror when I saw him.

--

NoV: AHHHH! CLIFFY!


	42. 42 You'll be fine

The moment I laid eyes upon Phineas, my mind began to flow over me in a river of incomplete thoughts.

_Blood, blood. There's blood. Bleeding from his head. Hanging upside-down. Burned rubber. Engine smoking. Going to throw up. Wake up, wake up. Still wearing his seatbelt. Thank God. Front end of the car is crushed. Other driver is yelling. Gotta call the ambulance. Gotta have a cell phone. Gotta let his mom know. Gotta get him to the hospital._

I forced myself to calm down. More important than my feelings at the moment was Phineas' safety. My cell phone was still resting in my pocket. I found it and dialed for an ambulance. Since we were in a city alien to me, I did my best to let the operator know where we were by giving her the name of our hotel.

After hanging up, I turned back to Finny. I ignored the blue car driver's protests of "I didn't even see him! Look! I gotta be somewhere!"

I pressed my handkerchief against the bleeding spot on Finny's head. I knew better than to try to get him out of the car. He looked like he was just sleeping. Just like my grandmother did before she…..

"Finny," I said, staring at his closed eyelids. "Can you hear me?"

His arms were dangling down toward the bottom of the ditch. I took one of his hands into mine and held it close to my face. "Don't worry," I assured him. "You'll be fine."

--

It wasn't long before the ambulance came to take him to the hospital. They were less willing to allow me to ride with him. But I was asked to stay and answer some questions from the police anyway.

The cops asked me and the other driver, who was a very rude businessman, some questions about what happened. After we told them the story, I was free to go and the other guy received a summons for a court hearing.

I called Finny's mother from the side of the road to let her know what had happened. After I made it clear that I was unsure what condition he was in, she informed me that she was coming to the hospital as soon as she could make it.

I went back across the street to the motel. Brinker, Ollie and Leper were sitting around watching baseball on TV. They vaguely acknowledged me when I walked into the room.

"What happened?" Brinker wondered. "Did you two kiss and make up?"

I ignored the implication of the joke and said, "No. Finny just had a bad wreck."

Suddenly, I had all their attention. "Is the car okay?" Brinker asked.

"Shut up, Brinker!" Ollie yelled. "Is Phineas okay?"

"What happened?" Leper wondered.

I divulged the story to them as they listened in shock.

Brinker announced that we were going to the hospital and we called a cab.

--

NoV: More up soon!


	43. 43 I love you like you love me

Quote of the day:

(NoV and Rachael are watching the 2004 version of A Separate Peace)

Rachael: Just so you know, if you ever push me out of a tree, I won't be coming around you anymore.

NoV: (pouts)

Rachael: ……trapezes don't count.

NoV: (smiles)

--

On the ride to the hospital, Brinker was the privileged one who got to sit up front next to the driver, who was a small, balding man. That left me sandwiched in between Leper and Ollie in the backseat.

I felt trapped. Why did Brinker automatically get to sit up front? He was such a jerk. If not for him interrupting with his stupid Q&A, I would have been able to tell Finny that I loved him back. In fact, if not for the Brinker Inquisition, Finny wouldn't have gotten upset and had a wreck. Brinker always had to say something smart like he knew everything.

I stopped myself, thinking, _Oh great, Gene. What are you going to do now? Break Brinker's leg?_

Why was I so quick to judge? Why did I constantly compete with everyone? I knew that it was my fault for not telling Finny how I felt earlier. I knew that I should have told him about the accident right when it happened. Heck, I should have left well enough alone and never pushed him at all. Yet there I was trying to blame it all on Brinker, who, while he was a bit of a jerk and a definite smart aleck, was very much innocent.

--

The receptionist at the hospital politely directed us to a room. We followed a maze of hallways until we arrived at what was defined as Finny's room. Just as Ollie was about to knock, the door opened and a plump, graying doctor exited the room.

Looking at us, he wondered, "Friends and family of Phineas Pell?"

I nodded. "Friends," I replied.

"He's going into surgery in half an hour," the doctor told us. "You may go in to see him, but only one at a time." He walked across the hallway to see another patient, I assumed.

"So, who's going first?" Brinker asked.

I could tell that he intended to be the first. I was about to let him when Leper piped up, "Let Gene go first. He was there when it happened and Finny will probably want to see him."

Brinker shrugged. "If he's even awake," he said.

I nodded to Leper, thanking him, and entered the room. I closed the door behind me. The walls in the room were extraordinarily white, heightened moreso by the sunlight coming through the window and the fluorescent lights overhead. Phineas lay motionless in the bed, covered to his navel in a white cotton sheet and covered to his neck in a hospital gown. A bandaged foot stuck out of the blanket.

As I neared my friend, I saw that he was staring intently at the ceiling. Standing over him, I noticed that he wasn't blinking. I thought for a moment that he might be drugged, but then decided that he was just mad at me.

"Finny," I said quietly. Then, knowing nothing else to say, I weakly muttered, "How do you feel?"

Without moving his body or his eyes, he said, "Oh, just fine. There's a piece of glass that broke off into my leg. It's about an inch long and they have to surgically remove that. My foot is crushed. My arm," which he lifted to show me, "is fractured. I have a concussion." Then he turned to glare at me. "Would you care to damage something else in me?"

I sighed. Somehow I had done this to him. I had been the one to turn Mr. Personality, my best friend, Finny, bitter. I would rectify this at any cost.

"Finny," I said woefully. "I don't want to do anything except confess and apologize." I waited for him to make a comeback, but instead he remained silent. "The truth is I _did_ knock you down that night at the skating rink."

He stopped me. "Why?"

"I don't know," I said honestly. "Something crazy inside me…..some kind of insane feeling."

He sat up. "Like an impulse," he said, defining it in his own terms.

"Yeah, just a crazy impulse," I agreed.

He looked softly at me. "So it's not because you hate me?" he asked.

"No," I answered. "I could never hate you." I gathered up my courage and said, "I love you, Finny."

"As a best friend?" he wondered, looking at his hands.

"No," I responded, smiling. "I love you like you love me." He looked at me with a smile, his eyes watering. "I love you more than I love to breathe," I went on. "More than I love to see color and paint it onto a canvas."

"More than I love to sing," he sad.

"More than I love to make good grades."

"More than I love to drive."

"More than I could ever love another person," I finished.

He rolled his eyes and laughed. "That's what I always tell people about Gene Forrester," he said. "He's _so_ competitive. Always has to get the last word."

I laughed. "Well, naturally."

We both awkwardly laughed for a moment. In the following silence, I felt myself drawing close to his face, and he drew closer to mine. We shared our very first, very awkward short kiss. Afterward, I blushed but he just smiled.

I took his hand in mine and said, "I'll see you after the surgery."

"Okay," he replied.

I exited the room, not caring if the other guys noticed the silly grin on my face.

"So he's doing all right?" Brinker wondered, with a knowing expression.

I cleared my throat and said, "Yeah, he's in good spirits."

"I'll bet he is," Ollie quipped. "Especially since he knows that you love him so much."

My eyes grew three-fold in shock. "You could hear—" I began.

"Every word," Leper finished.

I stood maladroit before my three comrades, knowing that I was in for a lifetime of teasing and cruelty. But for once in my life, I didn't care. It was all okay. If I had Finny, nothing else mattered. Nothing could overcome our love.

Brinker scoffed. "Guess I'm next." He looked at me, smirking. "Hope I don't confess my love for him too. Imagine how embarrassing that would be for Finny."

But before he could go into the room, two nurses showed up, pulling a stretcher.

"Sorry guys," the younger nurse said. "Visiting's over. We've gotta prep this kid for surgery."

"They're gonna shave him," Ollie joked.

The oldest nurse apparently didn't care for that witticism because she snapped, "You may all _wait_ in the _waiting_ room. He should be coming out of the anesthesia at about five o'clock, so you may visit him at that time."

They took the stretcher into the room. I shrugged at the other guys and we went into the waiting room down the hall.

--

NoV: Oh, lord, I can't believe what I have to write in the next chapter! (cries)

Anyway, guess what! I stepped on a piece of glass yesterday. It went through my shoe and I went to the doctor, but fortunately none of it broke off and remained in there. That's where I found inspiration for the glass that broke off in Finny's leg. Poor Finny!

Anyway, then I was crutching my way downstairs last night with my hurt foot and I made a wrong step and fell halfway down the stairs! I really hurt my back and I barely made it over to the computer to type this up. I hope my roommate comes home soon to drive me to the doctor. :(

Pell was the last name given to Phineas in the 2004 movie. (I think .)


	44. 44 Finny, can you hear me?

Quote of the day:

Finny: "Well, it doesn't really matter, does it? Nothing matters. As long as we're friends."

--

When five o'clock finally rolled around, we were all four bored and exhausted. Leper was dozing uncomfortably in a hardback chair. Brinker and Ollie were on their twelfth game of tictactoe, and I was writing a sonnet in my head about Finny. Adora still hadn't made it to the hospital. I considered calling her, but didn't want to worry her about the surgery over the phone.

I glanced at the grey-rimmed clock on the wall and stretched. "He's supposed to be waking up about now," I said, turning to the other three. "Do you guys want to go see how he's doing?"

"Ah, you go on first, Gene," Ollie offered. "He probably won't want all of us crowding around him right when he wakes up."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I mean, you guys haven't gotten to see him at all so far."

"He's not going anywhere," Brinker replied.

"Yeah, I think I'll go grab a bite to eat," Leper added.

I could tell that they were letting me go first because I now had a very different relationship with Finny than they had. And truth be told, I _did_ want to have him all to myself for a little while.

"Okay," I said with a shrug. I stood. "Come on back with me in a few minutes."

I walked back down through the labyrinth arriving at my destination in no time. I hesitated in front of the door, then knocked. Receiving no answer, I wondered if Finny was even in there. But, I pressed onward and peered inside the door.

I ventured further inside when I saw that he was indeed lying in the bed. The room was a lot darker than before, now that the light had been turned off and the blinds closed. I quietly walked toward my friend, noticing that he was no longer hooked up to the IV or the heart monitor.

I stood over him once again, this time to find that his eyes were shut. "Finny," I softly whispered. I touched the shoulder on his well arm and shook him. He felt stiff as a plank of wood, like he was tensing up for a fight. "Finny, can you hear me?" I said a little more loudly.

He looked so peaceful and relaxed that I decided not to disturb him. I sat down in the chair next to his bed and watched him for a moment.

Suddenly, the door opened. I thought that it would be the guys, but instead it was the doctor, whose name was Michaels.

"Oh, I didn't realize anyone would be here," he said upon entering and seeing me.

"Is it okay for me to be here?" I politely asked.

"Um, sure," he replied. "So, you're a friend?"

"Yes, sir," I answered. "We go to school together."

"Oh, I see," he said. He came over and kneeled beside me. "I don't know if you realize it, son, but your friend is….."

--

NoV: BUM BUM BUM!

Now, here's the plan. I couldn't just kill Finny, but I know that it was important to the original plot. So, here's what I've done: I've written two endings. One ends up with Finny making it and staying alive. In the other, he dies. So, I'm going to post each as an individual chapter after this one, and I'm going to let the fans decide which they like best and want to keep as the real ending of my story. All you have to do is read, choose which ending you like best, and vote in a review or e-mail. Whichever ending gets the most votes stays. And which one wins will determine whether I get to do a sequel or not. So, vote and tell me if Finny lives or dies!


	45. 45 The one where Finny dies

NoV: This be the one wherein Phineas dies:(

--

Quote of the day:

"The happiest day of my life is the day that I died."

-Good Charlotte

--

"I don't know if you realize this, son, but your friend is…..gone," the doctor said, almost apologetically.

I couldn't say anything. I couldn't move. I just stared at him. I slowly turned to look at Finny. Indeed, his chest wasn't rising to take in a breath. He wasn't twitching like he often did when he slept. His flawless skin didn't have its healthy, tanned glow.

The one person that I truly loved, my soul mate, my best friend, the greatest athlete who ever lived…..was dead.

Dead. Wasn't that a strange word? A strange noun that I now used to replace my friend.

"I'm sorry," the doctor offered. "It was one of the most simple procedures in the world." He paused and stood beside me, following my gaze to Finny. "Right as I was removing the fragment of glass, his heart just stopped. We tried everything to revive him, but…..he was just…..gone….."

The door opened and in came a pair of orderlies, pulling a stretcher. Two stone-faced men had replaced the kind, young nurse and the intolerant, older nurse. They had come to take my Phineas away. They were going to wheel him down to the morgue, a cold place with dead bodies.

I couldn't take it.

As they prepared to lift him onto the pallet, I said, barely above a whisper, "Please no."

"Excuse me?" one orderly said.

I took Finny's lifeless hand into mine and looked pathetically at the doctor, as my eyes filled and spilled with tears.

Dr. Michaels graciously nodded at the orderlies, who left the room, but didn't take the stretcher with them. The doctor followed them, leaving me alone with Finny and the stretcher, which would take him away from me forever.

"Why, Finny?" a voice said. I realized that it was my voice, but I hadn't realized that I was saying anything. "Why did you leave me all alone?"

But, he didn't answer. He could never answer me. Not unless I got to go to heaven when I died and we met up there. But at the rate I was going, I was headed straight for hell.

I just sat there, staring at him, trying to memorize him and burn him into my memory so I would never forget what I had done.

The door opened slowly and quietly. I didn't lose Phineas from my sight.

My three comrades came to stand beside Finny. They were the only three friends I had now.

"The doctor told us," Brinker said.

I looked at them, all three bearing faces of disbelief and regret.

I kept expecting Finny to jump up and yell, "Surprise!" But he never did.

--

Eventually, I left. I had to get out of there. If I saw him like that any longer, I knew that I would lose my mind.

We found his poor mother crumbled up in the waiting room. She had retreated so far inside herself that we couldn't get her to move or speak for hours. When she finally came around, we couldn't get her to stop crying.

Eventually, we got her into her van and Brinker drove us all home. The funeral was held the next day. Finny wore his pink shirt.

I was asked to be a pallbearer. I stood silently by while they lowered him into the earth.

That was when I decided that I had to live my life for the both of us. I had to go and do the things that Finny would have loved to do. I knew that he wouldn't want me to dwell and live in grief. So I didn't.

Brinker, Ollie, Leper and I held a concert at the school in Finny's memory. We charged students $5 to get in and we gave the money to Adora. It wasn't the same, playing and singing without our lead singer and drummer. I thought that it was strange that Finny had trained Leper to be our substitute drummer early on.

I guess that Finny always knew what was best.

Fin(ny)

--

NoV: Oh my god, that was sad. :( But, if you like that version best, vote for it!


	46. 46 The one where Finny lives

NoV: Okay, this be the one where Finny lives!

--

Quote of the day: "Death is not the extinguishing of a light. It is the blowing out of a candle because dawn has come." –unknown

--

"I don't know if you realize this, son, but your friend is very lucky to have come out of an accident like that and have only minor injuries," Dr. Michaels told me.

"I do realize it, sir," I assured him. "I saw it happen and I'm just relieved that he's alive."

The doctor nodded.

Phineas stirred and looked at us, sitting upright in bed. "Guess what," he said, widening his eyes.

I stared, dumbfounded. "What?"

With a particularly strange expression, he announced, "I am pregnant."

The doctor looked at me and said, "He's still a little out of it." He stood next to the bed, touching Finny's shoulder. "Phineas, you need to lie down."

"I know, I know, Keegan," Finny said, brushing the doctor off. "You socialists are all the same." He complied in lying down, against the doctor's political affiliations or not.

"Who is Keegan?" Dr. Michaels asked me.

I shrugged.

Phineas laughed. "Everyone knows who Keegan is," he said before drifting into sleep.

--

The guys knocked and came in a few minutes later. I waved them forward.

Putting my hand gently on Finny's arm, I asked him, "Are you up for some visitors?"

He sighed and opened his eyes. "Okay," he said. The effects of the medication had begun to wear off and I could tell that he was in pain.

Brinker, Ollie and Leper stood silently next to the bed.

"Hey, Finny," Leper said quietly. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel like a million dollars," Finny lied, propping himself up against a pillow.

"So, how long before you're up walking again?" Brinker asked.

Finny glanced at me briefly. "You kidding? I'd be up walking right now if they'd let me," he lied again. The truth was that he'd be on crutches for another two months for his foot. Then after another month of physical therapy, they might get him walking on his own again. But he was hopeful. So hopeful that it was both scary and inspiring.

"So, how are we gonna get home without a car?" Ollie wondered.

I hadn't thought of that. "Guess we'll have to take a cab."

The door abruptly burst open and in dashed a very disheveled version of Finny's mother. She immediately ran to her son's side, coming between him and the three guys on that side of the bed.

She took his hand and put it up to her face just as I had done after the wreck. "Oh, Finny!" she wept. "My poor baby!" She took in the sight of him, bandages, bruises and all. "Why do these things keep happening to you?" She threw herself over him, snaking her arms underneath his back to hug him.

"Mom, please," Finny protested, embarrassed. "I'm fine!"

"Oh, Finny," she cried. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. You're all I've got."

Finny's expression softened from embarrassed to compassionate. He put his hand on her back and patted her. "I know," he said.

Brinker, Leper, Ollie and I quietly left the room. I took a last glance at Finny and Adora in their embrace before I closed the door.

--

Finny was released from the hospital an hour later. Adora had come in her minivan so we all had a ride home. Brinker sat up front with Adora and chatted with her the whole way. Leper and Ollie sat in the middle row, discussing everything from musical theatre to the Darwin awards.

I had the best seat of all, next to Finny in the very back. We held hands the whole way home.

Fin(ny)

--

NoV: This is my particular favorite ending for two reasons: 1) Medicine has evolved and improved since the 1940s and therefore, Finny would be less likely to die from the surgery, no matter what philosophical meaning that may have held. 2) I love Finny and I want to write a fun new sequel to this story!

But, it's up to you! If you like this version best, click review and vote!


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